Cast in stone
by Latent Lullaby
Summary: Inuyasha sends kagome back to the modern era after witches threaten her. He seals the well and kagome is stuck with her feelings of loss, that is... until she finds an Inuyasha shaped statue behind the sacred tree... Inukag, complete
1. Normal people don't fall into bushes

Authors note: hiya minna-san! This is my first multiple chapter inuyasha fanfic, I hope all of you like it!

Read and reveiw!

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"Inuyasha! no!" Kagome shouted as she was being lugged toward the well, by a very hectic hanyou.  
  
She looked over her shoulder, to see that they were fast approaching the well, and what was worse, was that she couldn't see Inuyasha's face.  
  
Up until now, they had been fighting 3 extremely powerful witches. They HAD been doing well, but sango, as well as miroku had been hurt, and were carted off to the village... But the fight wasn't over, and as soon as he had been sure Sango and Miroku were away from the battle, he had picked up kagome and leapt away from the witches.  
  
And somehow, kagome knew what he wanted to do...  
  
"Inuyasha!" She tried to mask her fear, as he didn't answer her pleas.  
  
Before she knew it, Inuyasha stopped abruptly, almost making her fly off his shoulder, if it weren't for his tight grip on her waist.  
  
"Kagome..." His rough voice began.  
  
"I won't see you hurt, never again..." He reached up and grabbed the jewel shards that naraku hadn't taken, closing his clawed hand around them.  
  
What are you- Inuyasha!!" She felt her breath leave her as he picked her up once again, she could hear the cackling of the witches who were drawing nearer with each second.  
  
"Goodbye, kagome.." His golden eyes looked into hers, studied hers for just a moment, and in that moment, she saw something she couldn't discern. It was an emotion, she could see that much, but she couldn't tell which one. She glanced down and realized that he was holding her over the opening of the well.  
  
"But.." The tears began to flow from her eyes, she knew what this meant.  
  
---  
  
"ah!" Kagome bolted upright, the sweat dripping from her brow. It was the same nightmare, that had haunted her for the past 3 weeks. The same words echoed through her head...  
  
His voice still haunted her, like his eyes stayed in her mind, branding her with visions of what he might have been feeling.  
  
But then he had cut her off from his emotions, and dropped her into the well.  
  
And he was gone... Just like that.  
  
She wished, that she could have told him that she loved him, even if he didn't love her back.  
  
"Hey sis..." Kagome looked up to see a disgruntled souta at the door, pushing it open while yawning at the same time.  
  
He padded in quietly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He crawled onto her bed, with only a half-asleep look on his face.  
  
"You were moanin' and stuff, I could hear hear you all the way in my room. Whats wrong?"  
  
Kagome almost smiled, her little brother WAS a pain in the neck, but he could be a pretty good shrink when he wanted to be.  
  
Not that she ever told him anything, but it was nice to know that even her little brother had some sensativity.  
  
"It's nothing, souta, go back to bed, just a bad dream..." That wasn't really a lie, was it? It HAD been a dream, a dream that was very real...  
  
Then again, what did souta know about her life anyway?  
  
She nodded to herself as she watched him shrug, and stumble back to bed.  
  
Kagome tried to go back to sleep, she honestly did... Contrary to before 3 weeks ago, when she'd lie awake, thinking about inuyasha, until even he tired her out, and she softly cried herself to sleep.  
  
But she could no longer do that, at least she couldn't think about inuyasha, it was too painful, But she would still cry, no matter how she tried to cope.  
  
The young miko got up, tugging her robe to her small frame, she wanted to clear her mind, and just go to sleep, a walk might do that..  
  
She was careful not to make too much noise, she didn't want to disturb her family, who seemed to have no problems sleeping..  
  
Wincing at the loud snores coming from grandpa's room, she padded quickly down the hall, taking light steps.  
  
She opened the door, quietly closing it, and taking in the fresh night air.  
  
Since then, she had assumed that he had died, seeing as he had never come back for her. So it was not only the fact that she couldn't ever see him again, but the thought of actually mourning that made it so hard to deal with.  
  
Calling herself a miko was stupid now, because no matter how hard she called, they would never come.  
  
She looked up, surprised, that her own feet had led her to the goshinboku tree, the god tree.  
  
Though she probably shouldn't have been surprised, she had always come here... It reminded her of Inuyasha, when he had most acted like he had loved her...  
  
"kago-me..." She turned at the sound of her name... looking around, and finding no one.  
  
It was as if the wind was whispering her name... But then again, she knew better.  
  
"Who's there?! I warn you, I am a miko!" She really had to stop telling these little half lies... they could become addictive.  
  
But then again, what did any demon know about her, losing her miko powers, anyway...  
  
"Kago-me..." It whispered once again, and she stumbled back from the tree, and right into the bushes that lay to the side.  
  
God... she was such a clutz...  
  
There might be a demon, despite her being in modern day japan, and she had fallen into a few bushes...  
  
But as she opened her eyes, she couldn't seem to see the god tree, for there were several other trees, blocking it from plain veiw.  
  
She got up again, holding her hand to her chest, wondering if, possibly... maybe...  
  
No.. it couldn't be... She could hear the horns of cars, and the sounds of a dog barking, far away, but still surely there.  
  
Her eyes continued to take in her surroundings, and that, was when she saw it...  
  
At first glance, it looked just like a completely mis-shapen rock, contorted beyond true site. Normally, such a thing would never draw her attention, but... Something, something drew her to it, almost like a familiar friend, beckoning to her coyly.  
  
She stepped toward it cautiously, reaching out an unsure hand to make sure that all it was, was actually just a stone.  
  
It was cold to the core, she could sense no life in it, so she was sure that it was safe.  
  
And in the morning light, the rock, began to take shape, or at least, show her it's true shape...  
  
It was faded, pitted from the obvious acid rain that polution caused... But yet, it had simple little details that she had missed when she had first seen it.  
  
Like two little triangle shaped things that sat atop what seemed to be the humaniod's head. And she realized, that they were ears...  
  
Dog ears...


	2. What a day!

Authors note: Hello again minna-san!

Wow! I can't believe the positive feedback the this first chapter got!

I will be replying to your reveiws in each chapter, so here I go!

Candizzle: Thank you for the compliments, I am planning on making it a 20 chapter story, so watch for my updates, kay?

iLvsimplepln2- No! Inuyasha didn't die! I would tell you what actually happened, but that would ruin the story for you... so read the chapters to find out!

Moonlight6-Yeah, I didn't know if the first chapter was really a GOOD first chapter, seeing as there was so much info in it... but I'll consistently use this writing style through out the story! thanks!

Martina-sama-I'm glad you like it! I'll try to update every 2-3 days... thank you!

Anyway... read and reveiw!

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She gasped as she thought about it... This stone, looked just like inuyasha, as he would look when he would crouch to the ground, like a dog sitting on his haunches. She couldn't be wrong, she had seen it way too many times to be mistaken.

"But then... I was just asleep, maybe this is all a dream... a good dream..." She reached up to her cheek to pinch herself, which only resulted in a yelp of pain.

"Than this must mean... that I'm awake... and this is..." She looked to the rock again.

Maybe, the villagers had erected a statue of inuyasha or something... He HAD done a lot for the village, even though he complained about it an awful lot. Kagome reached up, hesitantly touching the cheek of the statue, not poking it, but relativly caressing it. It was cold, and had some of the morning dew on it that would surely dissapear when the sun rose.

Her fingers trailed up to the eyes, tracing the shape of them, and wondering...

"Inuyasha... I miss you..." She knew that the statue was not inuyasha, but just the fact that it was his image made the tears come to her eyes.

Looking up at the sky, she noted that the sun was rising, the soft shadows of the trees playing across the statue's face.

She sighed, it hadn't helped that she had gotten no sleep whatsoever, and still had to find her way back to the shrine, as well as her bed. She pulled her robe back onto her shoulders and began her acsent back up the small hill. Giving a a parting glance to the statue of inuyasha, something felt strange about the statue...

Kagome shook her head and dismissed the feeling, walking the remaining distance up the hill.

"Kagome?! kagome where are you!?"

almost tripping on the root she was stepping over, she fell flat onto her face, looking up in complete surprise.

"Ack! Uh... Mama! I'm over here!"

Next time she was going to sneak out and discover statues that looked like inuyasha, she needed to cover her tail once in a while by getting back to bed before sunrise...

Kagome emerged from the bushes to see her mother, tapping her foot impatiently. Waiting for kagome to stand up straight, her mothers face was a cross between angry and worried to death. Kagome had never been deathly afraid of her mother, Mrs. Higurashi had the tolerance of an elephant and the temperment of a...

Well, a mother... if you wanted to be specific.

"Kagome... why were you in the bushes at five in the morning?" Kagome could immidiately tell that her mother was just worried, all bark and no bite...

She shook her head again, what was with her and dogs? Other than a dog-eared hanyou, whom she had fallen for in the feudal era of japan... Not to get off the subject or anything.

"Umm... I was thinking about inuyasha and I couldn't sleep, so I took a walk and fell into the bushes accidentally."

Her mother's face immidiately softened, she knew how hard it had been for kagome, being the only person kagome had actually told, up to this point.

"Warn me next time, okay?" Her mother smiled and walked back to the house without another word, leaving kagome in a state of releif. She sighed as she turned her attention back to the statue in her mind...

What a great reminder, just when she truly wanted to forget about him, he popped back up and made her relive it all over again.

"There goes my chance of being sane..." She muttered to herself and began her trudge back to her house.

---

"Kagome. I know it's been a rough time for you... but you need to work harder, I don't want to see you fail."

She winced nervously as she sat in her desk, waiting for the teacher to finish lecturing her. If he only knew how rough it had been, battling demons, falling for a hanyou, and being torn away from him at the last minute. Her teacher probably didn't worry about things like that, he probably worried more about his math equations more than anything else.

But then, she had never been any good at math anyway...

"Alright, I want to propose a small training session, just to help you in math, this will be after school for only an hour."

Kagome sighed, it wasn't like she didn't have time for it anymore, she had all the time in the world. Compared to only a few weeks ago...

"Hai, sensai, I'll do that." She nodded dejectedly and got up, shouldering her backpack and sighing.

She wouldn't try to look on the bright side, because, lets face it, the bright side is overrated. She trudged out of the classroom, glad that the schoolday, grueling as it was, was finally over. Now if she could just make it home without mishap, maybe she could take a bath, as well as a nap.

"Hey kagome!" She groaned, she knew who that was... The only thing she didn't know, was when the guy would get a clue. She turned her head slightly to see a gushing hojo.

"Hi." She put on a fake smile and waved just as happily, though only she could tell that she was pretending.

He smiled blindly and put a hand on her shoulder, a very forward move for hojo, at least, from what she could see.

"Kagome..." His face darkened slightly.

"I know that it's been a really hard time for you..." So hojo knew too, huh? Maybe he would spare her the "Dinner and movie" routine, hopefully.

"I just want to let you know that your hamster's death is not an easy thing to live with, and I want you to know that I'm here for you..."

Kagome didn't fall over, but she did manage to tip slightly to the left. After righting herself, she smacked herself in the head, cursing her grandfather and his silly excuses.

"Oh... yeah." She managed to choke out. Taking that her throut problems were from an entirely different emotion, namely sadness, hojo went ahead and dropped the bomb.

"But I'd like you to join me for a movie, it won't be too long, and if you need to go home, I'll take you home anytime."Like THAT made it any better.

"Hojo, I'll get back to you on that, okay?" She looked up at him, feeling guilty that he was so honest, and she was... well...

Dishonest, to state it plainly...

He smiled and nodded his head enthusiastically, turning the other way, but not before waving with a happy smile on his face. Kagome sighed, suddenly drained, how did he do it? Maybe it had something to do with being normal, she would never know...

She walked slowly that day, after all, there was nothing to walk fast for... No inuyasha, sitting at her house, challenging her little brother to macho pride games, at which she would giggle uncontrollably. There would never be a time, when she would spot inuyasha in her room, just sniffing. She would never be able to relish the look on his face, when she made herself known, the emotions that she could see, if only for a moment.

There would be her family, and they would love her, as they always had. But now that she had tasted love of a different kind, she wondered if her family's love would be enough to pull her through.

She hoped so...


	3. Divine intervention

Authors note: Wow, The most annoying word to spell is "enthusiastically"... I mean, It's so freakin' long!! Well... not that it has to do with anything....

I'm sorry about taking so long to update these two chapters, but suspended my account because of reference to some stuff, although I'm not really that sure HOW that stuff is even in my stories...

But anyway... I wasn't allowed to update until the 12th, so don't blame me. To make up for it, I wrote 2 chapters, after listening to both, Avril lavigne's "Slipped away", and "My Immortal" By evanescense. (I still can't spell that right) I'd also like to add that those two songs are very good for angsty depressing kind of stories, but then, thats how I write these stories....

Okay, for those of you that I missed in the second chapter, here ya go!

kittycat-Hehe, I know cliffhangers are evil, but what good story does not have cliffhangers? Don't worry, kagome will have some nicer things happen!

Starfire77-Well, I am an angsty person, and I was semi-depressed when I wrote that chapter... So yeah!

Kj-kagome-thanks, I'm glad you like it!

dustywilson-I'm glad that I'm really getting through to you guys, I'm hoping, that you readers are feeling the distress that kagome is feeling... Thats my goal. .

tachisukumu-heh heh, yes poor ham-ham! well, hojo will believe anything that grandpa says, so I guess not..

Gotta-love-the-ears- thank you! And I wholely agree with you, you gotta love the ears .

SanaKurataSangatsuNanoko- oi! you have a long name! Don't worry, I already have the fourth chapter almost done!

Dew-Drop-Viper- I'm glad that you like my story!

lilcrazy15- yeah, I've had a few people call it tragic.. but don't worry, things will get better soon!

oroko- Thank you!

iLvsimplepln2-  Yes, hojo will always ask kagome on a date at the worst of times, and she'll be powerless to say no... Or at least outright refuse him. : D

Kougagurl666- I will! And, speaking of your nickname... We might be seeing some of kouga in here too, but I'm not sure how to work him in.

Silver-shadow-fox- Thanks for the compliments!

Demonchik39-Yes! Go inuyasha! I wouldn't mind having a statue of him in my back yard!

Lupin-Thanks! I hope I'm doing a good enough job for you guys, seeing as this is my first full length inuyasha fic! Grandpa IS a big part of the comedy releif, so I thought I'd have him do what he does best! .

Pyro6-No! I didn't kill him! you guys don't have to worry! But anyway, thanks for the compliments, please keep reading! .

okay then, thats all I have to say, read and reveiw!

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Kagome walked a little faster as she spotted the shrine, her feet suddenly seeming a tiny bit lighter.

She reached the steps to the house in almost no time, but something bugged her, she cast a glance at the clump of bushes that she had fallen into that morning. Wondering about the statue that resided behind them, hiding from the world.

Dropping her backpack, she walked lightly over to the bushes, stepping down through them carefully. She easily slid down the small hill, and gasped as she looked up. Inuyasha's statue, was covered in toilet paper and garbage, some kids must have done it, thinking that it was part of the shrine.

She growled and immidiately began to clear all of it away, revealing the hanyou's image once again. The light splayed across it, showing it clearly to kagome, who had only seen it by the moons light.

The figure really wasn't crouching, he looked to be... on his knees. His hands thrust forward like he was holding something that was no longer there. The look on his face was clearer now... His expression was one of sadness.

She stepped closer to get a better look, and saw, what looked like a small river, grey in color, trailing down his cheek.

Feeling her own tears beggining to form, she reached out and touched his face, tracing the small river of what she imagined to be tears.

Those villager were so cruel to make such a thing, why would they make a statue of him, crying and in pain? He was never like that, though she knew that sometimes he had wanted to. The only time that he had actually cried was when he had thought that she was dead, she remembered...

He had held her to his chest and shivered, she had woken up to the warm sensation of inuyasha's warm chest against her.

And she had never forgotten that feeling, not even to this day...

She bit her lip before gathering the rest of the toilet paper from inuyasha's statue. Even when his image was a statue, he had to endure so much, just because he was a half demon. It wasn't fair, it was never fair... And it never would be, but all she could do and did do, was comfort him, and accept him, when others would not.

Thats what love was about... And she loved him, deeply and truly. She had only wanted to stay by his side, couldn't he have at least granted her that?

Sighing, she stood back up and gathered the garbage into a ball. Maybe this place meant something... maybe it was more than it looked, maybe she was just crazy.

Once again, she cast a glance to the statue as she walked back up the hill. It would serve SOME purpose in the future, she was sure of that, but she didn't know what.

---

"Kagome? are you bedding down for the night?" her mother called to her from the kitchen

"Yeah mom, g'night!" She smiled and got up, heading for the stairs to her bedroom.

"No sneaking out tonight, good night." She heard her mother close the door to the kitchen and assumed that she was done talking. She wasn't planning on it anyway...

Souta was already fast asleep when she passed his room, she peeked in silently and smiled fondly, he was out like a light...

She padded quietly up to her bedroom, yawning in tired empathy. It had been a full day today, she had been busy for most of the time after school, and didn't even have time for a simple nap.

She ploped onto her neatly made bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow...

---

Kagome opened her eyes, but she was no longer in her bedroom, she no longer felt warm at all.

The land in which she was in... it was cold, and barren, with no trees and no grass, there was no sun.

"Where... What is this place..?" She whispered, rubbing her bare arms for warmth.

This place was dark, utterly dark. She didn't want to be in such a negative place... it would remind her of all the pain.

Shaking her head, she got up, meaning to trudge forward to find a way out of this place. It wouldn't help her to think of him now...

She walked forward, noticing that there were strange sounds, almost like low voices echoing through out the place.

As far as she could tell, there were two voices that she could tell the diference between them.

One voice, was low. It was rough, but familiar..

And the other, sounded strangly like her own... But there was something different about it... maybe it sounded happier, an emotion that she hadn't had in a long time.

She looked ahead, squinting to see a dull red ahead of her. All of the sudden, the voices got louder... Ad the one that sounded like hers, dissappeared, leaving the rough one.

If only she could forget who she knew it was...

"Kagome.." The red blur began to take shape, kagome's eyes widened as she watched.

It was inuyasha, yes... But he was not the same, he looked sad, almost lonely. Kagome had to restrain herself from rushing forward to him and comforting him. But he was only an image. He had to be...

She still couldn't see his eyes, his newly formed head looked like it always had, but she had yet to see his amber orbs. He kept his head bowed.

"Kagome.. do you know where we are?" He spoke. She couldn't believe it, he spoke! And his voice was the same, bringing back so many memoeries that she had kept back like a flood wall keeping back a lake. And like a river, those memories swept forth, overwhelming her.

She feverishly shook her head, unable to do much more.

"We're in your mind, or.. you actually are..."

"Wha-what do you mean?" He wouldn't look up, he would only look down at the ground.

"This place... it's a look inside your mind, I'm only a figment of it... a memory." He slowly raised his eyes to hers, his gaze almost scalding her with the intensity in which he looked at her with.

And for a moment, she had to doubt that what he said was the truth. It was so easy to think that she had rejoined him, the one she loved.

"Th-then why am I here?" She looked down, the tears of realization flooding down her face.

He didn't answer right away, instead, she felt his hand on her chin, gently lifting her head so that her eyes would meet his.

"So that I can keep you from losing hope." He smiled sadly, his eyes intensity lessening a bit.

This... this was just like him, her old inuyasha, she never would have guessed that he was just a thought...

She reached up, her eyes wide with wonder, and she caressed his cheek, moving slowly to the furry ears sitting atop his head.

"Kagome... Do you believe that I'm dead?" He asked as he closed his eyes in comfort at her touch.

She wanted to say no, but she knew in that corner of her heart that she really did. Hesitating at first, she nodded.

He said nothing.

"Did you love me, while we were together?" Kagome's eyes widened, although he was a thought, it didn't mean that it was hard to say, even to THIS inuyasha.

"Yes, I still do." She swallowed and looked into his eyes for comfort.

She found his sympathetic glance comforting.

"You wish that I would tell you that I return the feelings, But I can't tell you that..."

"Why not?" he chuckled to himself as she asked the question, disappointment inching into her voice.

"You might call this divine intervention, but... All I can tell you, is that inuyasha, your inuyasha, his soul still survives."

She gasped, he was still alive? Her inuyasha was still alive!?

"But you see... He is lost, as lost and alone as you are. Only you can find him. Not kikyo, you" He said firmly, driving any thought of the dead priestess out of her mind.

"But how can I find him?" Okay, she was taking orders from a thought... Maybe she really was crazy, but then, who wouldn't be, after all she had been through...

"You'll know... when the time comes. You'll know how to save him." He backed away from her, still smiling in his sad way.

"Remember this dream, because he needs you, to save him, for once..." The dream image of inuyasha began to flicker, and lose it clearness. Kagome couldn't say anything, the experience left her completely speechless. But it also, in a subtle kind of way, reminded her why she loved inuyasha so much. Because he needed her, and she had gotten used to him needing her, after all of his time alone. As a young hanyou, running from demons who wanted nothing more than to kill him.

It had been hard for him to learn to trust her, as well as the others who had joined their little group. Little by little, he inched closer and closer to her, until they had been just as good as best friends, no, more than that...

She had been in love...

---

Wow! Kagome knows what to do! at least in a way... I wrote this while listening to my immortal, which I mentioned before. It really is a good inuyasha kagome love song, and perfectly fitting for this kind of story! If you haven't heard of this song, than you must be dead, or don't have a TV or something! Then again, how would you know about inuyasha if you didn't have a TV or go out... So anyway, I was completely surprised by the amount of feedback I got from the first chapter! as well as the second! Since I'm very cruel, I'm going to wait to update for at least a day... though you guys deserve to have this chapter early!

Anyway, read and reveiw!


	4. Mine is the heart you stole

Authors note: Wow! I can't believe how much you gous like this story... Although I am overwhelmed by reveiws, I will still reply to each and evey one of them, because I love hearing from you guys! Don't hold it against me if I do a reveiw twice... they ARE kind of hard to keep track of... But here I go!

Thoughtsoftradgedy- I know! I'm a complete fluff addict myself... Thats why I write these kinds of stories...

Blood Soaked Hands- Yes! Hojo is a turd, we all know it! I personally don't like him, but you gotta give him credit for persistance! All I can say, in reply to that other comment, is yes, they are cruel... I'll update as soon as my writers block dies...

greatyoukai-You really think so? ee! happiness! Yeah... sadness... I think is a big part of a story. If your character is happy during troubled times, they are just plain insane!

Starfire77- Oh wow, it did?! Thank you so much for reading it! I'll make sure to keep up the writing!

SanaKurataSangatsuNanoko - Oi, I don't know how you can write your name that fast! And yes.. I already read a little bit of one of your stories, I would have read the rest, but my evil brother made me stop...

demonchik39-LUCKY! I completely envy you! I have the cd, but have yet to go to a concert. Oh, and in response to the other comment, no comment... if I told you what happened, it would ruin the story! I shall update very soon!

Tobias-Thank you so much! I wasn't sure if the 3rd chapter was up to par.. But I'm glad it is!

Daddy's pixie- Yes, I know, I am evil! But not so that you can't handle me. I'll update as soon as I can, for all you guys!

Kagome2691-Thank you. Oh yes, and I do know that inuyasha and sesshoumaru are hot. In my little group of friends... I get inuyasha, my friend stephanie gets sesshy, and my friend sam gets kouga. So, I really haven't got the right to like sesshoumaru, though I don't mind having Inuyasha! .-

Kougagirl666-tank you so much! .

Mr. P coat-You think so?! I'm really happy now!!!

Sweetpikachu-Oh sure, she will find him. It's up to me how long it takes her, though...

lupin-Yes, I like her shoes too... Anyway, I'll try to keep up the pace for you guys. Thanks for the compliments. .

Okay, I think that's all... If I missed anyone, let me know in a reveiw and I'll be sure to do it in the next chapter! Anyway... School is starting again, that means my evil brother is going back to college, and I'll get to write even more! I'm especially happy, because I'm getting the inuyasha soundtrack, because I absolutly love the music! I like one ending in particular.

I completely love "Every heart" Because it's totally inuyasha/kagome. And I support that couple with every fiber of my being!

Okay, thats all for now, read and reveiw!!!

----

Kagome had woken up early the next morning, but she hadn't bothered to get out of bed. Since no one was really up yet, although she could have sworn that she heard grandpa ruffling his useless sutra's in that annoying way that he had.

She thought about it, wondering... In what way, could inuyasha still be alive? Had he survived somehow, to the modern age?

If he had, it still wouldn't explain why he had never once tried to contact her. Unless he had no way to do so...

Light finally spilled into the room out of the bedroom window, a sure sign that it was morning again. Kagome was thankful that it was finally the weekend of a long week. One of her hands made it's way to the side of her face. Her head pulsed sorely and stubbornly, she had no idea why... Maybe it was because of the dream..

She shook her head and tossed the covers haphazardly of off her body and slowly brought her feet down to the floor, lost in thought. Going about the changing or her clothes half-heartedly...

Okay, so she knew what to do, but how was she going to do it? Everything that seemed familiar, was so far away now.

Miroku and sango had become family to her, and shippo was like her son. But they couldn't help her now, could they?

She streched once more and looked out her window, her eyes instantly flitting toward the patch of bushes that hid inuyasha's statue.

What was her obsession with that thing? Other than the fact that it was his exact image, she couldn't help but be drawn to it... It was really very strange.

"Kagome... are you up? I have some breakfast made if you're hungry!" So her mom really was up this early, kagome never would have guessed it. How did her mother even know that she was up...?

'Duh, stupid, she heard you walking around upstairs..' She thought to herself as she stumbled down the stairs.

But then, her mother probably had a specific reason for making breakfast early. Ever since kagome had burst into tears in front of the sacred tree, and run to her, Mrs. Higurashi was a careful listener to all of kagome's problems.

"Hi mom.." Kagome sighed dutifully as she sat down at the modest table that her mother had readied for breakfast.

"Kagome.." Her mother smiled at her and put some feshly made sushi on kagome's plate. (A.N. I have no Idea what japanese people have for breakfast, so don't hold it against me. )

Her mother sat down across from her, picking at her own breakfast before looking up at kagome.

"Dear... I got a call from your school, about the math class." She began.

Kagome winced and kept eating, carefully paying attention to how she picked up each piece of her sushi. Why did she have to hear something like this, now?

"I'm not going to yell at you, because I know that you aren't going to let your grades slip. What I DO want to talk to you about, is your feelings, kagome..."

Her mother sighed as she looked back down.

"You seem so sad lately, you hardly eat, you don't talk anymore. And whenever we want to do something, you just give us a sad look... I want to know what's going on." Her mother had a concerned tone of voice, Kagome really wasn't surprised. She knew that this would happen sooner or later.

"Well... Mama, it's about inuyasha. I..I miss him. Thats all it really is..." She really couldn't look her mother in the eyes, because she knew that she wasn't telling the complete truth.

"Kagome, did you love inuyasha, if you were honest..?" Kagome looked up, shocked that her mother would be so forward in her search for a better understanding of the truth.

"Yeah.." She sighed, wondering what her mother would ask now.

"I'm glad that you can tell me these things." Mrs. Higurashi smiled and stood up, gathering her breakfast dishes into a stack to wash them. Kagome sighed again, her mother never ceased to amaze her. with things that other people would be nosy about, she just wanted to know what was wrong.

"Go outside and get some fresh air, it might clear your head. Don't worry about the dishes, I'll do them." Her mother looked at her seriously, it sounded more like an order, the way she had said it anyway... But kagome wasn't about to argue with her mother, she knew that it would be better if she was alone for a while. Meaning, not being stuffed into a house all day!

"Okay mom, I'll just walk around a little bit..." Kagome rolled her eyes and got up, not bothering to grab her jacket.

As soon as she stepped out the door, kagome knew that it was a bad choice, the wind was blowing, and the sky was dark. But she at least wanted to check on the statue, to see if nothing had happened to her only way to see him, if only in a way...

It had rained a bit during the night, so as she stepped foot on the grass, she slipped, falling through the bushes once more, as she had when she had first discovered it. Pitifully, she got up, shaking her fist at the bushes.

"I'm gonna cut you down someday, and when I do, it won't be pretty!" Who cares if she didn't mean it, it was still nice to think about. She frowned and turned to the statue, it was still painful to look at, seeing how the villagers had depicted him.

She moved her ankle and tried to stand up, yelping, she looked down at her ankle, noticing a large scrape that was blossoming into a bruise.

"Oh great..." She muttered.

"Inuyasha would be laughing at me, right about now..." She groaned in pain and reached for the closest thing that she could grab onto, which turned out to be the cold, dead hand of the statue. She pulled her body closer to it, easing her side against it, so that she could attempt to get up again. She ran her hand along the ground, but instead of finding just flat ground, she found several little bumps.

Like beads...

Her eyes widened as she looked at the ground, could they be..? Were they Mirkoku's prayer beads, or Inuyasha's enchanted necklace..?! She hurridly dug with her fingers, frantically scratching at the ground, before she unearthed one of the beads.

the bead was purple, and the next bead to come from the earth was shaped like a sharp tooth, just like the ones on...

Her hand flew to her mouthh, covering it in a gasp, these WERE inuyasha's sit necklace beads! She would know them anywhere...

Without thinking anything of it, she began digging for more of the precious beads. Soon enough, she had a good pile of the beads. But soon enough, she found something flat that did not feel like dirt.

It felt grainy and rough, like the surface of a wooden box... She frantically dug yet again, hoping for some piece of history that she could hold onto. A memory of her friends, as well as inuyasha that she could keep to remind her of them...

She brought the large box out of the meager hole that she had made, hugging it to her chest. She set it down carefully...

The box, was locked shut with a meager golden clasp, though it, as well as the box, was worn away severly. Kagome sighed and undid the clasp, setting the cover back on the ground.

Inside the box, were 3 things that almost made her heart break...

She reached inside and drew out a bracelet of prayer beads that were once miroku's, Sango's poison mask lay broken in half, next to a spinning top that she had seen shippo use so many times. Her friends, had cared enough to leave her the things that symbolized them the most. They hadn't wanted her to forget them, she smiled forlornly, holding the three onjects to her. As if wanting to absord her friend's essenses...

But she had forgotten... She looked up to see the stone eyes of the statue that carried inuyasha's likeness so well. He looked as forlorn as she was, almost as if he was trying to remember something that he had never wanted to forget. But even in his sorrow, and tears, he still looked proud, in the way that only inuyasha could.

"Trapped in the eyes of a stranger.." She whispered as she smiled up at the statue, it was a song that she had just heard, she had not payed much attention to the lyrics... But now, they flashed through her head.

"I still remember the world

From the eyes of a child

Slowly those feelings

Were clouded by what I know now

Where has my heart gone

An uneven trade for the real world

Oh I, I want to go back to

Believing in everything and knowing nothing at all

I still remember the sun

Always warm on my back

Somehow it seems colder now

Where has my heart gone

Trapped in the eyes of a stranger

Oh I, I want to go back to

Believing in everything

Where has my heart gone

An uneven trade for the real world

Oh I, I want to go back to

Believing in everything

Oh where, where has my heart gone

Trapped in the eyes of a stranger

Oh I, I want to go back to

Believing in everything" As she whispered the final words of the song, she felt the familiar tears crawl down her cheeks, it seemed like a daily routine now.

"Kagome!" She opened her eyes, shocked by the panic in her brothers voice. She quickly gathered the object into the box and closed it, holding it to her chest as she tried to rise again.

With a little trouble and much pain, she rose to her feet, leaning on the statue for support as she called his name.

"Souta! I'm down here! What is it?!" She grasped passing bushes, and small plants as she hopped up the gradual incline of the hill. She winced as she put down her injured foot in desperation.

"It's grandpa, he's not moving!" She gasped and hurried more, as souta's paled face appeared above the guardian bushes.

He looked so scared...

Like he'd seen a ghost...

---

"Grandpa!" Kagome stumbled into the room, with souta following lamely behind her, his body shaking.

The room was dark, kagome reached for the light switch that she knew was there. It had to be there...

rubbing her hands along the wall, she hurridly tried to find it, and she did.

She took a deep breath before flicking it on, almost like the deep breath before the plunge, for she knew what she would find...

Light flooded the room, and she gasped again, her hand flying to her mouth in horror. Grandpa...

He wasn't moving, he wasn't breathing... His chest did not rise and fall as a person who was sleeping would do...

Though he looked like he was sleeping, his eyes were tightly shut.

He was dead...

--------------------------------------

Authors note: Wow, I'm sorry about the long wait, but I got serious writers block, and I tried to write, but I screwed it up. The song, is by evanescense, though I can't remember the name. Because I wrote that part in last night, and I got it my A really awesome site, if you ask me! . I know, I know, how could I kill grandpa?!

It will all play into the story, in which, as of now, I have fully designed the plot. I wrote this, just after watching: Lord of the rings, the return of the king. And all of that angst rolled into my writing! Thanks for all of the reveiws! you guys truly are awesome.

Tell me if you don't like this chapter, I don't really feel that it is up to the standards of the last 3... But this is all I could write... I also wrote this while listening to "Black old sun" By sound garden/ Chris cornell. It's a really awesome song, that I reccomend to all of you!

Click that button!!!


	5. Love and determination go hand in hand

Authors note:Hi guys, I guess from the lack of reveiws, you guys didn't really like chapter 4... So I'll try to make up for it by writing a little happier of a chapter 5. After all, for all of the sadnesss that I've put kagome through, she deserves a tiny bit of happiness... There might be inuyasha fluff in this chappie, you lucky readers.

Starfire77- Like I said before, she'll have a little happiness from time to time... Thank you for reveiwing!

Be prepared for a little sadness at the beggining of this chapter though, I mean, her grandpa just died! She has to be saud!

Anyway, please read and reveiw!

Kagome rubbed her brothers head as they waited for Mrs. Higurashi to come home from shopping, she heard him sobbing into her lap. Her innermost urges weren't so different from her brothers... Her mind and her soul, told her to cry, and to cry hard...

But she couldn't do it. It wasn't that simple...

She could cry with her brother, and make a horrible sight for her mother when she walked through the door. Or... She could be strong, and comfort her brother.

She chose the second choice. After all, she had done her share of crying...

But then... Two people who were important to her, were dead, gone... Inuyasha was living, but he was dead to her, because she could not find him.

They had patched up her ankle, so she was able to walk with only a slight bit of pain.

"I'm home!" The door opened slowly as both kagome and souta watched their mother step in.

Her mothers happy smile immidiately vanished as a grimace replaced it.

"Whats wrong..? What happened..?" She set the grocery bags down on the floor and looked to kagome.

"Mom... It's grandpa.. he died." Kagome didn't want to see her mother cry, but she couldn't look down, because she knew...

That she had to be strong...

The higurashi family had gone through a time of grieving for the day, while Mrs. Higurashi called to make arrangements for a funeral. Kagome held souta, who could only weep, and say nothing.

It had been a while since grandpa had been loaded into a waiting ambulance, and all of the higurashi family had been in a daze ever since. Kagome was probably the calmest of them all, still refusing to cry, still not weilding to grief.

"Kagome... go to sleep. I'll take care of souta." Her mother scooped up the sleeping little boy into her arms and nodded to kagome, walking up the stairs to souta's room.

She stumbled to her bedroom, clutching her heart...

Life really didn't like her right now...

Opening the door with a heavy sigh, she shrunk back to her floor, hugging her knees to her chest, trying not to cry.

She stretched a little, her foot hitting something...

She looked at it, the box...

Shaky fingers reached for it, wanting to escape, yeah, escape from this world of cares and hurts... If there was such a place.

She opened it, again seeing the objects that she had discovered inside before, but this time... Something else caught her eye.

The dilapitated cover of a book was now noticable in the light her her lamp, it's edge caught on a corner of the box. Kagome raised her eyebrows, and dug the book out, relativly surprised by it's weight.

It was dusty, she noted as she flipped the cover, to reveal pages that were yellow with age.

The page, was inscribed with a small title.. It read.

_To kagome..._

Her heart began to speed up, as she realized that it was sango's handwriting, she flipped the page again to see a page inscribed with many words.

_Kagome, Miroku and I never got a chance to say goodbye to you, as well as shippo. So we decided to leave this book behind for you, both in thanks, and in goobye. You've probably found the objects in the box, just know, that they are given with great warmth and heartfelt love. _

_Well, to begin with, the letcher and I got married after all. Miroku was extremely happy about it, although the urgency of a child wasn't so urgent, because of naraku's death. As far as I know, we have 5 children, with many on the way. I would draw them, but I haven't much talent in the way of art, so you'll just have to imagine._

_As for Inuyasha..._

Kagome closed her eyes as she read the words, and held her breath... But looked down once more to read what more sango had to say.

_After he dropped you down the well, he came back to the village to check on us. We healed within a day or two... But inuyasha, he was distant, and wouldn't talk. He looked like he had tears in his eyes, but whenever I got a good look, he would turn away. That night, Miroku went out to talk to him, by my request. The monk came back in, saying simply, that inuyasha missed you. Though he later told me, that inuyasha had been sobbing into the sleeves of his haori._

_About a week later, inuyasha disappeared without a word. We were about to go looking for him. But before we could go, one of the witches that we fought so hard against, came to us and yelled out a particular poem. She then said that in revenge for her sisters, she had placed a spell on inuyasha, and that her poem was the way to break it._

_The poem was this...:_

_For what blood he once pursued to kill_

_Now he is chained to with every breath_

_That blood will free him from his sill_

_Only to call on him, from death to life_

_He will only be her destined will._

_She then said that it would never break, because she said that she would find the one whom he loved so much so that he would die._

_Kagome, If I could be with you to help you with this, I would be. But since I can't be there, you'll have to do this on your own. I know that you can do it, if only for inuyasha._

_The witch has been dormant for at least 3 years, so miroku and I are going to look for her. I'm leaving this book to keade to see that somhow, you get it. _

_Miroku was able to draw pictures of our children, as well as everyone we knew. He said that there was a picture of me in there, but I haven't seen it. So I won't trust him on that one. _

_Don't get too depressed over there, I know some things will happen, that I can't control. But I speak for everyone, that we all want you to be happy. And, of course, we all know, that you can't think straight when you're depressed, try to remember that. Okay sis...?  
_

_Forever your friend and almost-sister, Sango._

Kagome smiled, as she slowly flipped through the rest of the pages, almost giggling at miroku's well drawn little children. And there WAS a few good pictures of sango. As well as some with shippo in them.

She knew, that being depressed would do her no good. Her mind would have to be clear to actually find inuyasha. Her grandfather, she had loved him. But she had spent enough sadness on inuyasha, and trying not to cry was wrong, She just needed to let it go.

She made a silent promise to her grandfather, though it was not without a few newly shed tears, that she would mourn for him.

But after she had her act together, after she could find inuyasha, only then, would she allow herself the luxury of mourning.

She was not going to sit back and be sad any longer, her friends had taught her that... Strong, thats what she had to be, strong.

And she would be damned if she let a dried up old witch from 500 years ago, keep her from her love.

that she would be...

Authors note: yes! I finally updated!!! I think that you guys are gonna like this chapter, at least I hope so.

Anyway, I'm really tired, so those of you who I missed that have reveiwed. I'll make sure to talk to you in the next chapter.

Okay, thats all I have to say.

Read and reveiw!


	6. Meetings and revalations of love and loy...

Authors note: Okay, this chapter is a bit longer than the others, because I didn't want to give my loyal readers another cliffhanger. Because I wuv them . . So anyway, you'll find this chapter a little fluffier than most of the others, if not directly, then in a way. Also, expect the return of a dear friend. thats all I'm gonna say!

Okay, read and please do review!

The following week was full of relatives flooding into the higurashi shrine, leaving their condolences for grandpa.

Kagome nodded, smiled sadly, and deigned to keep her head down.

though her aunts and uncles, as well as cousins thought it was strange that she did not shed a tear for her grandfather, they accepted it to be a way of coping. Maybe it was...

Inside, kagome was sad, with the normal depression that would come after a loved one dies. And she felt alone, as well. Distant...

She wondered what inuyasha would do if he was there with her, whether he would comfort her, or yell at her for being weak.

Or maybe, he wouldn't do anything at all... He would brood in the god-tree, and wait until she came to get him.

"Kagome..?" She looked up, her mouth open in surprise.

"Oh, hojo, why are you here..?" Her hands remained folded in front of her, as a suit clad hojo stood beside her.

Noticing that she was sitting, he grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to her.

"Kagome... I'm so sorry." For once in his life, hojo was serious, and concerned about something other than asking her out on a date.

He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her in a sudden embrace, that caught kagome completely offguard. She yelped as she was jerked into his arms.

"I wish that you didn't have to go through this, but, if you want me to. I'll be there with you..." He pulled back and smiled at her, keeping a hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks hojo." Kagome was just getting over the shock of him hugging her, although it wasn't the most pleasant of things, it was still sort of shocking.

"I'd like to know if you want to go to dinner tonight, just with a few friends, if you feel like you can't do it, then I understand.."

Kagome shook her head in defeat and sighed, maybe if she said yes once, he would leave her alone for a while, if even that.

"you know hojo... that would be nice.." She smiled at him, watching his boyish smile return. How she wished that it was inuyasha that was smiling at her like she was a goddess.

But it was just hojo, a clueless, popular guy, that took direct interest in her. She knew it wasn't love, because she knew what love felt like, and it was so much better than this...

Kagome had changed into jeans and a t-shirt after the funeral, simply telling her mother that she was going out for a while. Her mother had smiled sadly and nodded her head, before turning back to the dishes. Hojo was right on time with his red convertable that kagome didn't even know he had. His smile was bright, the poor guy... He was saying that they were going to a small place just near her house. It was a diner...

She was quiet, the whole ride to the diner, she looked down at her feet, ignoring the idle chatter that hojo tried to use to break the ice. The diner was small, but yet busy... Hojo kept talking about his two awesome friends that he wanted her to meet.

She sighed as she looked at the building looming above her and hojo, this would be tough, tougher than facing demons with inuyasha. Because this was practically a new battle ground, she had NEVER been on a date before. And now, she was regretting even saying yes.

Hojo led her to the steps of the diner, pointing to the two guys standing in front of the door, watching kagome and hojo approach.

"Hey guys! this is kagome. And uh.. Kagome, this is daisuke-" He motioned to the one on the left, who had black hair and soft brown eyes like hojo did.

"And this is saiyoko." Hojo smiled and nodded to the other.

It was now that kagome noticed this boys insolent eyes, they were green. His dark red hair was pulled back into a short pony-tail, and he stared at kagome, like he knew something.

"Lets go inside." Hojo opened the door of the diner and stepped in, leading a very confused kagome behind him.

Soon enough, they got a table, ordered, as well as engage in conversation that only hojo and daisuke really participated in. Saiyoko kept staring at her with those insolent green eyes. Kagome felt uncomfortable, like she had forgotten something that she should always have remembered, and this boy was reprimanding her for it.

"Hey you guys, me and daisuke are gonna go get the food, okay..?" Hojo got up and gave both kagome and the green eyed boy a simple nod before both of the boys walked off.

Kagome watched them go, sighing in tired annoyance.

"So... Kagome." The boy finally spoke to her and closed his eyes, sitting back in his seat.

"your grandfather died, huh..?" Kagome almost gasped, why did this guy know about that... had hojo told him?

"As well as losing someone dear to you, eh..? Life treats you strangly I see." This boy had a strange way of talking, strangly, he sounded almost familiar. She was completely surprised that he knew about her other troubles.

"Yeah.." She managed to stutter out, almost horrified.

"Hmm" His green eyes darted to the side. He fell silent, crossing his arms over his chest, as kagome turned and saw hojo and daisuke returning with the food.

She got up before they could sit back down...

"I'm going to go to the bathroom, okay..?" She quickly ran without even saying another word to hojo. This guy, saiyoko, he was giving her a strange feeling, that she really wasn't sure she wanted to know about.

Saiyoko watched her go, and got up after her, he turned to a speechless hojo and astonished daisuke.

"I'll get her, don't worry about it."

Kagome had snuck out of the back door of the diner, not caring whether anyone saw her. What she hadn't noticed on the drive with hojo, was that there were many dark allies, with only streetlights to light her way.

It wasn't the greatest part of town, she had to say that...

She never would have done this normally, but something had told her to get away from that diner.

"Kagome..." It wes the voice of that boy!

She turned abruptly to where the voice was coming from, which happened to be the pitch black, shadowed by spindly reflections of shapes she couldn't discern.

"Do you know who I am..?" A figure stepped out of the shadows, the light played across him, to reveal that it was saiyoko.

"What do you want?!" Kagome clutched her purse, trying to inch away from the boy.

"I want to know, why were you out with hojo-san..? Don't you love another..?" His face wasn't full of malice like she expected it to be, it was thoughtful.

"I do... but.." She looked down. "I know that he would... I just... I love him so much, but I lost him, and I can't find him. I miss him, and I wish that I could see him again." She slowly fell to her knees as her depression again hit her like a wave. Her tears fell, as they always did, and she felt regret for bursting out in front of a total stranger.

"Oh.. okaa-san... please don't cry..." The boy knelt down next to her and hugged her.

"Wait, huh?! mom?! is that what you just called me?!" She looked up at him in disbelief.

He looked down at her as well and smiled.

"It's me, shippo."

Shippo...

Her eyes widened, her heart sped up, and as she looked up into the boy's eyes, she realized that it was true. Completely true...

"Shippo-chan??!" She reached up and hugged him tightly, holding onto him to the point that he was gasping for air.

"Kagome, you're choking me!!" Kagome abruptly yelped and let him go, sitting back and looking down at the ground lamely.

He smiled and bent down, throwing himself into her arms.

"Mama!" Kagome smiled as she caught him, just like old times, just like she had longed to.

"Shippo... How did you... where is inu-" She looked down and sighed.

"Nevermind... It's a stupid question." She looked over at shippo.

He had grown, he was as tall as inuyasha was, witht the same lanky yet muscular build. He still had his pony-tail, and now that he had ceased his fox magic of disguise, he had large padded fox feet. His tail was smaller, although not too small. He wore the same style of clothes that he once did in the feudal era.

"Otou-san, I don't know where he is, but I know that he's alive. And we'll find him, mama, we will." He smiled in confidence and looked on ahead towards the woods.

"Kilala and I made our home in the woods, after sango and miroku passed on, we just went on living, hoping to find you again."  
He led the way into a small path leading through the foliage that they were entering.

"And it wasn't a stupid question... I would wonder the same thing..." Kagome looked nervously around her, rubbing her arms.

"You... loved otou-san, right..?" Shippo glanced back at her.

"Yeah, of course I did." She looked back down, ignoring the look in his eyes, it was pity. She knew it...

Her thoughts were interrupted, as a ball of fur came at her, mewing in joy.

"Kilala!" She laughed happily and petted her, smiling at the fire cat.

Shippo sat down on the ground, watching silently as his dear second mother hugged his best friend close.

He almost wished that inuyasha was here to see her, no, he DID wish that he was... Inuyasha had loved her so much, shippo knew how much he had loved watching kagome in the morning. Smiling in a bittersweet way, just loving her...

He bent his head down, remembering the pain in the hanyou's eyes when he had asked shippo that question, yeah, that question.

He had looked shippo straight in the eye and asked,

"Why do I feel so complete... and yet so empty..? Why do I feel like she's my heart..?" It had been after inuyasha had dropped her back into the well. He had cried, he had wept for her.

As if she was dead...

Inuyasha had forgotten about kikyo, shippo knew that the minute inuyasha had disappeared, was the same minute that kikyo allowed herself to rest. So that she was no more...

Inuyasha had always wanted her to be happy, for her to live, and to live well. That was why he wished that he had never even met her, because then, she wouldn't have gotten hurt, because of him. When she hurt, shippo saw inuyasha in the same torture, walking around, and watching her like one who was almost dead. But she had always brought him back, making the light shine, making the tears go away.

It was so simple to say that inuyasha would gladly have given his life for her, but it was hard to say that he would leave truly. Because then, there would be no one left to keep her warm, to keep her light shining. He wouldn't have died if he had wanted to...

Maybe it was because she was gone, that he had left, disappeared without a trace. because a part of him, still remained with her, and he was trying to get it back.

Shippo had heard the rhyme, and he had puzzled it in his mind, for the 500 years that he had to endure. Inuyasha hadn't tried to fight against the witches, because he knew that he was already almost dead.

"Shippo.. Why don't we go back to my house..? It'll be a bit warmer..." She eyed him, and pleaded with him silently, her brown eyes searching his soul for a clue.

"Yeah... that would be good." He smiled.

But he had come to one simple conclusion, they were lost, without each other. And he did not want to see them lost any longer.

Authors note: I hope you guys don't mind, but I will no longer be responding to reveiws, because it just takes too much time, and emotional gusto to do so. Although, all of your reveiws help me write, I appreciate every one of them!

I wrote this chapter, to 2 blink182 songs, that I feel are very deep and thoughtfull. Just very angsty!

They are...

I miss you.

and

I'm lost without you.

In respone to one particular reveiw though, I'd like to say, that I found the lyrics to the evanescense song on a website that you'll have to ask for in a reveiw, because they don't show the websites on stories.

I was sort of angsty, and very squishy from a little inuyasha-kagome fluff that I read in an awesome story that I think was called, My inuyasha. I'll confirm in the next chapter, but if you like my stories, you should read this one. It brought me to tears! And thats hard to do, for me, the master of angst! (In my world anyway).

Okay then, I'll keep writing if you guys keep up the good work and keep reveiwing, I wuv all you guys!!!


	7. I'm lost without you

Authors note: Most of my news is at the end of the chapter, so all I'm gonna say here, is that I do not own Inuyasha, as well as the song "I'm lost without you" By blink 182.

"C'mon shippo, I show you the place that I talked about." Kagome grabbed shippo's hand, as kilala hung onto his shoulder. Shippo was interested, the thing that his adoptive mother had taken the liberties to tell him about in excrutiating detail. He almost tripped over the bushes, as she walked briskly down the gently sloping hill.

He saw it...

It was just as kagome had described, it was made to look so much like inuyasha. But after his first look, he looked to the woman next to him, watching her look so forlornly at the statue, her lower lip trembling. And inuyasha's words echoed in his head,

"Why do I feel so complete, yet so empty..? Why do I feel like she's my heart..?"

And this statue expressed his sentiment perfectly.. at least, to shippo's point of veiw.

It was cold, constantly cold, where he was.

Outside voices couldn't find him... He was imprisoned, somewhere, he didn't know where. All he knew, was that he was constantly cold, and he heard her voice over and over again, crying out his name.

This prison that trapped him, and had held him for over 500 years, was like a cage.

When he slept, he knew that he called out her name, in tortured pain.

And sometimes, he wondered if she could hear him. Writhing in imaginary pain. His soul was broken out of abuse, he wondered if he was insane. The witches cackling echoed through his head, warping kagome's pure voice.

All he could do, was wait for the time when kagome would need him, and there would never be a time like that, because he wasn't strong enough to protect her. Even though he loved her, god, he loved her so much.

But he could always dream...

"Okaa-san, can I have some more noodles..?" Kagome sighed and turned back to the pot, scooping out some dejected looking noodles, and ladling them into shippo's bowl. Kagome's mother was shocked to find that this kitsune was calling her daughter, "mama". But after kagome told her about shippo, and that he was from the feudal era.

Her daughter simply smiled and sat down, watching shippo eat the ramen, like he hadn't eaten in days.

Mrs. Higurashi sighed and got up to go and tackle the pile od dirty laundry that was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Shippo... I just... I don't know where to look, anymore..." Kagome held her head in her hands, noting that her mother was out of earshot.

"Now that I've found you, and kilala... I have to wonder, if he's watching over me, watching me... But all I truly want, is to find him again." Shippo looked up from his bowl, watching his adoptive mother speak from her heart.

"All the things I hear, I just don't know what to think... I loved him so much, and now... it feels like, a part of me is gone, with him..."

He looked back down at the table at a loss for something to say... He wanted to comfort her, but he had no support for her. Not like his otou-san could, not like inuyasha would...

"Well find him, I promise mama, we will." He smiled up at her, putting a reassuring hand on her hunched shoulder.

She smiled half-heartedly and got up.

"Shippo-chan, If you and kilala don't mind, I'm going to be in my room for a little while."

The kitsune nodded and closed his eyes, sitting back and watching his okaa-san walk wearily to her room.

Kagome sat down on her floor, grabbing a pillow and putting it next to her cd player. She pressed the power button, and lay down in front of it. Closing her eyes, as the beginning strains of the song began.

_I swear that I can go on forever again_

_Please let me know that my one bad day, will end_

She hummed along with it, Her fingers patiently tapping out the beat on her pillow.

_I will go down as your lover_

_Your friend_

_Give me your lips_

_And with one kiss_

_we begin..._

The soft tones of the singers voice lulled her to sleep, her grip on the real world, seeming to lessen. Until she was asleep, forgetting that the song was even playing. Soft piano, could be heard, as the song entered it's chorus.

Her eyes blinked open, realizing, that she was no longer in her house, but in a meadow. Teaming with birds and wind, playing with the tree's long branches.

It was about the same time as he awoke, laying on a tree branch, the wind playing with his long white hair.

Both of them stood up, seeing the other as a speck in the distance. Inuyasha, leapt down to the ground, landing softly. As kagome hesitantly stepped forward.

_Are you afraid of being alone_

_Cause I am_

_I'm lost without you_

_Are you afraid of leaving tonight_

_Cause I am_

_I'm lost without you_

Both of them could faintly hear the music in the background, even as they wandered toward one another, they contemplated what the words were saying.

Kagome blinked, squinting into a distance, and seeing that flash of red and white that he always was.

And her eyes widened, wondering if it was the thought of inuyasha, like it was before. (A.N. Chapter 3, you guys. Remember..?)

He saw her as well but..

He doubted that she was anymore than a dream, though his very soul ached to go toward her. He finally allowed his feet to move, and so he walked toward her, a disbelieving stare on his face.

She walked toward him, her tears welling up in her eyes. Kagome stopped from where she was, suddenly sitting in the tall grass, looking up at him, in crushed hope.

Inuyasha looked to her, and stepped forward, bringing his hands to her face, caressing it as if it were one of the most valuable things on earth.

And to him, she was...

Kagome's eyes locked with his, she wanted to say his name, she wanted to speak to him, but her throught didn't seem to work

He got to his knees, grunting wearily as his knees hit the ground. making it so that he was as close to her as possible.

Kagome's tears fell silently, as she watched the pain conflicting in his golden eyes.

_I'll leave my room open till sunrise_

_for you_

_I'll keep my eyes patiently focused _

_on you_

_Where are you now_

_I can hear footsteps_

_I'm dreaming_

_And if you will_

_keep me from waking_

_to believe this_

Kagome reached up, real or not, she couldn't bear him in pain, she brought his head down into her lap. Smiling sadly downat him, softly caressing his cheek, and rubbing her hands through his long silver hair. His golden eyes searched hers, he wanted to say something, but she knew that he couldn't. He wanted so desperately to believe that she was HIS kagome.

He wanted to believe that this was real...

Even if it wasn't, he wanted it to last, because he was afraid that she would leave him again. But she shook her head in understanding, taking her small, pale hand, and intertwining it with his clawed one. Squeezing it in affection...

_Are you afraid of being alone_

_Cause I am_

_I'm lost without you_

_Are you afraid of leaving tonight_

_Cause I am_

_I'm lost without you_

His heart relaxed, and suddenly, he didn't care if it was real or not. His eyes, began to close, fluttering in resistance. He wanted to see her... just for a little while longer.

But sleep got the better of him, and he closed his eyes, losing himself in her warmth.

It had been so long since he had felt such warmth...

She smiled dow at him, not fully understanding why she was here, with him.

The soft strains of the song, began to fade, in one final lullaby. Simple strokes of the keys of a piano, whispered in an ending sonata.

As the singer, himself, repeated himself once more...

_I'm lost without you..._

_I'm lost without you..._

How true it really was...

Authors note: okay! you guys can't say that there is no fluff in this chapter, even if it IS a dream! I was feeling squishy, from watching a disney movie, and listening to the song written about in this chapter.

I really like it, and I think it sounds, and seems like inuyasha is actually singing it. If you have the blink 182 cd, then listen to this song while reading this chapter. I think you'll get what I mean in this chapter...

I also printed out some manga that isn't translated yet... although the website had already translated it.

It was a completely sweet inu/kag moment. that I couldn't help but fall in love with.

Kagome was basically saying, "I'm here for you, I'll stand by you, what do you need..?"

Inuyasha said in reply, "Hold me up, just a little while longer."

If you want to be refered to this website, then tell me so in a review, and I will gladly send it to you.

Anyway, I have to go, because I'm REALLY tired, and need some sleep.

Toodles...

Read and review! .


	8. A timeless evil

Authors note: Hey everyone! This chappie will be a little bit darker than you guys might like, but I promise that it will lead to something good! Anyway, thanks so much for all of your reviews! I never imagined that so many people would like this story, and now that I see the number of reviews that I have, it makes me really happy! Keep it up!

Oh, and in the next few chapters, you might find another familiar friend, or enemy, I can't decide which one .-

So stay tuned.

Disclaimer:I just realized that I've forgotten a disclaimer for almost every chapter ::Smacks herself::

Okay then, so here it is, I don't own Inuyasha or anything related to him and his wonderful show. Although if I did own it.....

I wonder if Inuyasha would freak out when he's sitting at a river, and a fish bonks him in the head...? We may never know...

------------------

When kagome awoke the next morning, she remembered all of the dream... She was surprised that she had slept all night... It was very unlike her.

But she wasn't unhappy, no, not at all...

She felt...almost content.

Because she had seen him, she had been there with him, even though he might only have been as a thought is. She looked in his eyes, and she had been able to see his soul through them. And...

That made her happy..

(-.-)

It stunk of death, and waste, rotting flesh... This was where the remaining witch made her home. She sat on a rocky old chair, that looked red, like blood, with browning spots everywhere on it. One could only guess, that it WAS actually blood.

She had known Naraku, enemy of the one she had cursed. She laughed in his face, his tricks and mockery were just child's games... He was a coward, with no power whatsoever. Whereas he had lived only 52 short years, from his birth to his demise... She had been living since the beggining, she had been one of those creatures from pandora's box itself. Along with her two sisters, they had wreaked silent havoc, causing disease among the people, moving from place to place.

And all of it had been going extremely well, until they came across that hanyou and his miko, along with their pathetic human friends. The hanyou had killed her sisters, and for revenge, she put a curse on him.

And the only one who could break it, was that miko of his.

That was why she had to find her, and kill her, before she had a chance to bring back the hanyou.

"My mistress, I have found her." An emotionless voice echoed through the caverns, as the witch smirked in her own wickedness.

"Good..."

---

"You sure you're okay, okaa-san..? You slept for a very long time last night..." She smiled simply in response, then simply returned to brushing out her long black hair.

"I've never been better shippo, except a few weeks ago..." She hummed to herself, closing her eyes contently. She didn't have school that day, so she figured that she would take it easy and catch up with shippo and kilala. She walked to the window and stuck her head out of it, feeling the wind carressing her face, and the sun, beating down upon her head.

Though it wasn't AS sunny as she wanted, it was sort of overcast.

She smiled to herself, thinking about her dream, and wondering if it was really the thought inuyasha, or the real one. The though-inuyasha, had projected a sort of confidence, something that made her feel like things were going to be okay.

But this Inuyasha, he was nothing like that... He looked... afraid. Like a lost little boy. Something inside her, made her comfort this inuyasha, and she had felt perfectly content.

There was no lie in his eyes... He had allowed himself to fall asleep, with his head in her lap, she valued that...

It made her feel, like it was before, when he had been human, she remembered how fast her heart beat that night.

It was probably that night, that had planted the seeds of affection in her heart... They had grown closer, day by day. She, learning to understand his heart, slowly unlocking it. And he, finding that trusting her wouldn't hurt him, so that they became closer than ever.

She liked to think that he loved her too, if even a little bit, that was enough to keep her going. And she was grateful for that little bit that he gave her. Even if her friends demanded that she split up with him...

It really wasn't that simple, you couldn't just walk away from someone you love, it was nearly impossible.

He was still cold, he still couldn't sleep, but he had a speck of hope in his worn heart. The dream had comforted him, and had taken hold of him when he felt like he was drowning in his own sorrows. Kagome's smooth fingers running over his face, and through his hair, and that loving look of hers.

It had made his heart swell in love for her... And it made him feel a little bit better, about his feelings.

He still missed her, and wished violently for her calming scent to be beside him once more.

Closing his eyes... He remembered that scent of hers, it was so sweet and gentle.

Like her...

It was night once again at the higurashi shrine, and kagome was settling into her bed, after a hard day. Shippo and kilala were already asleep on the couch, and her mom and souta had already gone to their rooms. But kagome was wondering if she was going to get another visit from Inuyasha in her dreams.

But she wasn't quite tired yet, so she grabbed the book left behind from Sango and Miroku. Flipping through the pictures, she eyed each one, smiling at the antics of her two friends.

_SHWOOSH!!_

Kagome turned her head toward her window, hearing the strange noise. Getting up silently, putting her hands on the window and peering out.

Nothing looked out of the ordinary on a dark and windy night, then again what WAS normal on a dark and windy night.

Although she couldn't sense anything wrong.

Shrugging, she pulled on her robe and made her way out of the house again, thinking that a visit to inuyasha's statue would be a bit more calming than trying to go to sleep. She winced as she noticed that grandpa's loud snores were no longer there, now that he was gone, they would never be there.

Closing the door behind her and stepping out into the night, she took a deep breath and started walking toward the telltale bushes that lead to the statue.

But then, she began to hear footsteps, slow but sure. Whipping her head around to follow the noise.

She began to wonder if it had been better to stay inside, but she immidiately knew that whatever it was, was after her, and her alone.

The thing was, Inuyasha wasn't there to save her, she HAD to save herself, no matter how hard it would be.

Soon enough, she saw a dark figure, almost materializing out of the darkness, he was tall. But as soon as he got close enough to her, his hair began to grow, falling just below his waist. His clothes, puffed out, and soon enough, she could see golden eyes, staring at her.

"In-Inuyasha..?" He stepped into the light, and she could see him fully.

It looked like him, but something just seemed strange about him. He wasn't smiling, and he didn't look happy at all, he was smirking.

He closed in on her, and the look in his eyes, it scared her...

"Inuyasha... you can't be him..! get away from me!" She took a step back, hoping that her cries would be heard by kilala and shippo.It seemed that she had backed near to the goshinbouku tree.

This had to be a dream! A really bad dream....

Inuyasha would never have that look in his eyes for her, only when they first met, when he had tried to kill her...

Before she could get away from him, he reached out and grabbed her by the neck.

"Some things never change... love." He smirked again, his voice was deep, like Inuyasha's once was, as a demon. He began to squeeze, making her loss for air appharent."Help!" She managed to choke out. She closed her eyes and struggled as hard as she could, a few tears making their way past her eyelids.

And suddenly, she heard a loud yell, and was dropped to the ground, knocking her out.

---------------

Authors note: I'm REALLY sorry for the shortness, but I'm just NOT in the mood for writing tonight. And I don't want to go too far and ruin the story for you guys!

Okay, in an answer to one of your questions and comments, Kagome won't find out about inuyasha being the statue until the last chapter.

Okee then, I might have another story for you tommorow, so look around!


	9. A little bit of happiness

Authors note:Okay, so I figured that I should start typing up some of chapter 9. I don't seem to have writers block, because I just watched a sort of fluffy episode of teen titans. I've also been listening to my new Inuyasha cd!

It's called "the best of inuyasha" and it has all of the full versions of the beginning and ending songs for inuyasha, along with a bonus theme!

So needless to say, I'm really happy. okay, no more stalling, here is chapter 9 for all of my loyal reviewers! ::wink:: .

-------------

When kagome opened her eyes, everything was blurry, and she could still clearly remember the pain of being suffocated. Her pale hands flew to her neck, and she yelped in pain when she touched it.

"You'll irritate it, don't touch it." A deadly calm voice echoed through the room, like a low hum. Kagome's eyes focused on a large white form standing to the side of her.

It was...

Sesshoumaru!

She immidaitely backed away from him as far as she could, wincing in evident fright. The demon didn't even flinch, he stared into her eyes, and set down his clipboard.

He was in modern clothes, his uniform looked almost like a doctor's. And at this, kagome had to wonder, why he was taking care of her.

Or so it seemed...

"I know what you are thinking, I am not here to hurt you, or else you would have been dead long ago." He motioned to the door.

"Your kitsune child, and the neko are waiting outside for you, I was just about to let them in."

Kagome's heart began to stop beating so fast, as she began to realize, that somehow, sesshoumaru has rescued her, or something... Although she wasn't quite sure if she could trust him, he had inflicted too many wounds on inuyasha to be trustworthy just yet.

The youkai ignored her questioning stare, and opened the wooden door, motioning to whomever was outside.

"kaa-san!" She was suddenly engulfed by her son's harsh embrace, as well as a meowing kilala.

"Ship-po, it's alright! I'm okay... unless you squeeze-me to death, then-we'll have-problems." Kagome choked out in false frustration. She was actually very happy to see a friendly face, after the scare, and the attack.

As soon as shippo let go of her and shrunk back to a chair, kagome sat back up, and looked around her.

"What actually happened back there..?"

All she could seriously remember, was that Inuyasha had been choking her, but it hadn't been him. The look in his eyes had been very different, and the smirk had been scarier than almost anything she had ever seen on his tanned face.

"Well, as soon as we heard your screams, me and kilala rushed out to find you. But by the time we got there, the guy who had been attacking you was sprawled out on the ground. He looked just like otou-san." Shippo's eyes avoided hers, he looked down at the floor, almost sniffling. Was he ashamed..?

"And Sesshoumaru was there, bent down next to you, holding you up."

Kagome sighed, and nodded to sesshoumaru, he HAD been the one who saved her, for that she owed him, if he would allow a human being obliged to him.

"I insisted that you be brought here to my clinic, and from then on, I treated your slight neck wound." So maybe Rin HAD softened him over the years.

Sesshoumaru again lifted his clipboard, so that he could write on it. Kagome hugged her knees to her chest, wrapping her slender arms around them. It WAS childish, but at this point in time, it was all she felt like doing.

Things seemed so hopeless, when only a few hours ago, she had been full of that volatile emotion. Inuyasha.... He couldn't help her, he was trapped, and he needed her to free him. Shippo and kilala were there, but they basically depended on her for moral support. And now, someone was evidently trying to kill her... Things couldn't get any worse, could they..?

"Hey everyone! Where's my kagome..?" She shuddered, it couldn't be... He wasn't...

Kouga walked into the room with a bouquet of overly colorfull flowers, and a big stupid smile on his face. Just the opposite of how kagome felt, oh joy...

"My mate! how have ya been! I missed you a great lot, I bet more than that sack of dog crap, Inuyasha!" Kagome's heart broke, as he uttered the crude insult, ushering familiar feelings back into her heart. She felt like folding into herself again, why did kouga have to remind her of what she never forgot?

"Hey, whats wrong..?" Immidiately, with a look of concern on his tanned face, he knelt down next to the patients bench.

"It's nothing kouga, it's nice to see you.." She swallowed her tears, and tried to smile, although it probably would have killed her if she had tried.

"I just need to sort things out... that's why I'm so upset." She nodded and wiped away her tears, smiling as best she could.

Kouga nodded and got back up, still not taking his eyes off of her.

She closed her eyes again and did a mental flipflop. So all of the demons from the feudal era had survived through all of the long 500 years. But that still didn't answer the question that stung her the most....

Why had... Inuyasha....

No, that thing couldn't have possibly been inuyasha. His eyes, they had been too hollow and feelingless. All that she had felt in her attacker, was true hatred. And even though Inuyasha might not have loved her, he would never hate her so recklessly.

"Lord sesshoumaru, if you will..." She gulped and turned her now open eyes on him.

"Do you remember smelling Inuyasha's scent on my attacker?" She decided to ignore kouga as he started growling at the mention of Inuyuasha's name.

"It was not my brothers scent, that was why I came in the first place... This attackers scent was mingling to closely to yours, and I knew that Inuyasha had a special liking for you, so I came." She was amazed that Sesshoumaru was actually saying and doing nice things that would have been a good contrast to his behavior long ago. But then...

Kagome had learned, that some people can change...

"Well... if you need a place to stay kagome, I'm right here!" Kouga flashed her his cocky smile and smoothed down his bangs, winking at her, and making her cringe at the thought of what he might try to do.

"There will be no need for that kouga, I'll be fine at my house, I'm sure." She smiled nervously and gave a sideward look to shippo, begging him to get her out of this.

"U-um, yeah! Me and Kilala can keep her safe." Shippo graciously volunteered and immidiayely stood up, taking kagome's arm and helping her off of the examination table. Kagome made a mental note to thank shippo later, as he rescued her from kouga and the now, Dr. Sesshoumaru.

"Kagome... before you go." She turned at Sesshoumaru's voice and looked at him.

"The scent that was on your attacker was that of a servant of a witch, she is the same one that you and your group struggled against."

Kagome closed her eyes, and then opened them again in realization, as she remembered that horrible parting that had happened almost four weeks ago. And of course 500 years ago...

"Be wary of her... She may want to kill you, because you are the only one who can break the curse on my brother, where ever he is."

Kagome took one final look at Inuyasha's brother, who had changed so much, but still remained the same.

Everything had changed...

She, Shippo and Kilala walked home in silence, and she thought about it.

All of the people that she had loved, and even hated, had changed so much...

Their ideals were not the same.

Although when she finally found Inuyasha, he would be different too. He would be afraid, and disoriented, and she didn't know if he would want to see her. He would want to be with Kikyo, she couldn't deny it.

That was just how things always had been. She had always been second best, kikyo had always been more important to him.

And her friends had always known her anguish, her sullen face never hid her hurt very well when she had been around Sango, Miroku, or even shippo.

But all of that didn't matter anymore...

She solemly nodded to shippo and soon she treaded the path to the statue, alone. But she wasn't afraid... She needed to be alone, because this was the only remnant of her beloved Inuyasha that she had left. It was still so painful to think about him, but she couldn't do anything else until she could see him again.

Until she could look into his eyes, and tell him what she had known for the longest of times, she wouldn't be able to move on.

She now took the statue's sullen grace into her heart, and took in the emotion that it portrayed. She wanted so much for him to be standing there, where the statue was...

He would take her in his arms, and hold her tightly, and he would tell her that he was there, and he would never go away. She wished that this dream could possibly be real...

And she realized, that she would always be bound to him, she would always be given the curse of having to think about him, without being with him. And until she broke the spell or curse, or whatever it was, she would never be happy, as would he.

She kneeled in front of the dull grey structure, and she looked it in the eyes, those painful grey eyes. And as the wind blew across the small clearing, playing games with her raven hair; she reached up and cupped the cheek of it, searching for a little warmth in all of the cold rock.

She searched, for a little bit of happiness in all of the sadness....

-------------

Inuyasha felt her hand, he felt the warmth from her pale hand on his cheek, somehow...

He leapt up, despite his aches and pains, crashing himself against the wall of his prison, trying desperatly to find her. Because he wanted to see her, if only to see her once, just once!

He wanted to look into her brown eyes, and know that he was cared for, if not loved. Because he had been missing her these last 500 years.

And no ammount of hurt, nor sleep would take her out of his mind, beacuse he thought of her, always...

And he would never forget...

Authors note:Hey guys! I hope you all like this chapter, and that it will tide you over for a while, because in a few moments, my uncle is going to be taking the comp for a week to scan it for virus's and stuff. But I'll have a really great chappie for you guys when I get it back!

Okay then, I gotta fly! read and review!


	10. No more words

Chapter 10

Authors note: Hey you guys! I know it's been a really, really long time since you've gotten a chapter from me. So I decided that you all will be getting a one-shot, as well as a new chapter. So please accept my humble apologies and don't throw any shoes at my head...

Here ya go!

Kagome opened her eyes for what seemed to be the one-hundredth time that night...

It seemed that she just couldn't sleep, either due to her lack of activity, or her depression. She tossed and turned nightly now; it had been getting worse each day. Even her family couldn't make any sense of it...

They all just watched her, by way of living their lives, not able to do anything to help her, nor harm her. When she would meet their gazes, she would politely look away.

She couldn't help but feel guilty for something, although, for the life of her she couldn't figure out what.

She sat up, eyeing the window and listening for any sounds. Her mother and brother had gone to dinner, along with shippo. Leaving Kagome with Kilala for protection. The small fire cat slept next to her, purring contentedly. But the thing that worried kagome, was the fact, that they still hadn't come back, and that it was one' o'clock in the morning.

As she had only a few times before, she pulled on her robe and climbed out of bed, knowing at once where she was headed. Her place of refuge, Inuyasha's statue.

Kilala looked up from her spot on kagomes's bed, mewling in worry for her human companion. The miko turned and smiled at her,

"Don't worry kilala, I'll be right back."

Her lies had begun to become more and more obvious, she knew... But her life was fake enough, that it meant nothing to her, to lie.

Besides the fact that it wouldn't do her any harm to just step outside for a little while, would it?

She continued on her way out of her bedroom door, ignoring the further warnings of the small cat demon.

The wind was blowing, playing with her hair almost violently as she made her way toward the sacred tree.

Kagome doubted that she should have even crawled out of bed, much less leave the house; but now that she was on her way, she might as well continue on.

But as she closed her eyes to take in the pungent scent of the trees and the grasses, she saw in her mind, two eyes, that seemed to be closed.

"Now is the time..."

Gasping, she turned to where she thought the voice was coming from, but saw no one. The sky was only subject to small bursts of light that looked too similar to lightning to be a threat.

"H-hello?" Her heart was pounding in her chest, and as she turned back to her path, she felt something pierce her stomach. She squeaked and looked down, seeing a small blotch of blood begin to stain her white bed shirt. It spread, until it covered half of her stomach.

"Oh no..." As soon as she had uttered the words, she began feeling similar slashes being directed at other parts of her body. And as the pain set in, she clutched her bloody stomach in contained agony.

All she knew, was that she HAD to get away from whatever was attacking her, and the only place she could think of now, was her refuge.

She stumbled down the path, tripping over the roots of the bushes and falling the rest of the way to the statues feet. As the slashes seemed to stop, she heard Kilala and saw the angry flash of red that usually meant that she was transforming. Soon, the fire cat was roaring and slashing at things that seemed invisible to kagome.

She started to get up, placing her blood-strewn hands in the statues hands, bringing herself to her knees. But as she opened her eyes, she began to see something, making her gasp in shock.

The cold rock, was no longer cold...

For what blood he once pursued to kill 

_Now he is chained to with every breath_

_That blood will free him from his sill_

_Only to call on him from death to life_

_He will only be her destined will._

The poem from sango's letter brought itself to attention in her mind, as she watched what she thought she would never see.

The gray flesh of the figure seemed to glow bright yellow, as the stone that seemed to shape the haori, simply fell away, like rocks. Kagome scooted away, wondering desperately if this was a trick, if her beloved statue was being destroyed because of her.

A small blue barrier formed around her and the glowing statue, keeping anyone else from entering the area.

Suddenly, blood fell from the statue, ensuing a low groan that sounded familiar. And before she knew it, kagome saw the statue move. It fell forward, breaking its sullen position, falling flat on its stomach.

It was too much to hope, kagome didn't want to let her heart believe that... She didn't want to be hurt again... but she couldn't help herself.

Hesitantly, she reached forward, as the yellow glow began to subside. She lightly touched the bare shoulder of the figure, gasping as she saw it move at her touch.

"Kago-me...?" She gasped in shock, as two golden eyes, filled with pain and sorrow, and grief, penetrated hers.

"Inuyasha...? Is... that you?" She felt like crying. This... this was the real thing.

This man, who looked up into her eyes, and had his own tears forming in his eyes, he was Inuyasha.

He wasn't a dream, a thought, or an enemy... He was just him, no fakers that wanted to encourage her or hurt her. This... was the man that she loved. And so... She allowed her heart to believe.

As best as she could, out of pure instinct, she reached forward, inching close to him.

The look on his face was pure disbelief, as well as pure joy, pure relief, and as she lifted him so that his upper body was in her embrace, he began to cry.

He buried his head into her chest, taking in her calming scent as he wept. She ran her hands through his long silver hair, not caring that he seemed to be naked. She only cared that he was there, coughing out blood and weeping for what she understood was gone.

His whole world was gone, except for her, and only he understood how much he really appreciated that she was still by his side, after 500 years.

The barrier that had formed around them began to become weaker, and soon disappeared altogether; allowing the fire cat to gracefully come in, and nudge kagome's bloody arm. The girl looked up, nodding to the cat demon. She gently used all of her strength, through her tears, to lift him to his feet and onto Kilala's back. Kagome ignored her wounds, and concentrated on inuyasha, and trying to get him back to the house. She walked beside kilala, holding onto the extra fur on her back. She noticed inuyasha silently watching her from where he was on kilala's back. His clawed hand gently held onto hers in a protective gesture. She smiled softly at him, and she felt his hand tighten around hers.

At that moment, as she walked beside her dead friend's fire cat, watching a broken half demon who she knew would never truly love her; and felt pain that was almost unbearable, she felt...

Happy. She could find nothing negative in her heart, and for once, there was emotion in Inuyasha's eyes, that she could hardly understand and read, but still made her smile.

And she knew, that she didn't have to say anything, for the things between them at that time had to go unspoken.

Before she knew it, they were at her bedroom door, and her time to think was cut short.

She immediately opened her door, deciding, that she would tend inuyasha's wounds there. While Kilala gently rolled him off of her back and onto the bead, kagome grabbed for her trusty yellow backpack, aiming to find the old bandages.

It felt so familiar, she thought as she unraveled the gauze-like bandage, to do these things. Her fingers moved fast by experience, as if remembering her time in the warring states era as well.

Inuyasha still wouldn't close his eyes, she noted, he insisted, in his stubborn way, that he would watch her. She saw in his eyes that this was how he wanted it to be.

"Kagome..." She threw a blanket over the lower half of his body and began to work on his chest.

"Yes... Inuyasha?" Her work was slow and for inuyasha's sake, she was painstakingly careful.

"You're hurt too."

"Yeah... I'll take care of that after I'm sure that you'll be okay."

Before she could continue, she felt a clawed hand on her arm as he tried to sit up. She tried to stop him and yelped as her stomach pulsed in pain from her sudden lurch against the bed. She held her side in pain, trying not to make any noise to show weakness.

"Let me try my hand at this." Even though he was hurting from all of the welts along his chest and arms, he lifted her up, between his legs.

"Inuyasha?" He was silent, as he reached for the roll of gauze that she had dropped on the floor. Without a word, he lifted he shirt gently off of the bloody wound on her stomach, rolling it so that it hung just below her breasts. She blushed and tried to shrink away, but he held her close.

"Just let me do this kagome, then you can do what you want." She was surprised at the choked emotion in his voice that seemed like a mix between anger and shame. Was he implying, that she would want nothing to do with him afterwards...?

He gently wrapped it around her abdomen, careful not to irritate the wound more than it already was. Soon enough, he had moved on to the other parts of her body that hadn't been as severely cut.

"Inuyasha..." He looked up now, searching her eyes and growling to himself. He handed her the roll of gauze, now almost used up, and let go of her so that she could move freely.

Kagome sighed, trying not to let herself investigate his problem, whatever it was. She should have been happy that he was back from a 500-year torture chamber, but for now...

She wasn't...

Authors note: Alright you lucky readers you! Inuyasha is back! And there's already a problem between them. Oi... this could take a while. Well, I did this in thanks for all of you guys who have been waiting for these long four weeks. Okay then, so leave me some feedback on this chapter!

By no means is the story over, I'd like to remind you guys that this is probably going to be a 20 story.

Alright then, toodles til next time!


	11. Healing

Chapter 11

Cast in stone

By Zeldagurl

Authors note: Hey you guys! Instead of giving you that one shot that I was talking about, I've decided to update a bit early for you!

Enjoy!

Morning light filtered in serenely through the shades in her living room, and kagome slowly opened her eyes, blinking the sleep away. She was sure that something was wrong; she had always woken up being sad about something, but now, she wasn't.

She remembered now, the hanyou who slept only a short distance away, in another room. He was within her reach, and she was comfortable with it like that.

But she wasn't going to pressure him into talking, like she would have before... No, she would wait for him to come to her, it would be much more genuine that way.

And she had fulfilled her promise hadn't she...? She had found her way to him, and now that she had him back, now that he was safe, she could be happy.

Now all she had to do was make sure that he was happy, and that he was never hurt like that again.

Kagome turned her head to the side when she heard heavy footsteps coming from the hallway that led to her room. She leapt to her feet, ignoring the pain from her wounds to rush to Inuyasha's side.

"Inuyasha! What are you doing?!" She rounded the corner of the hallway, just to see him stagger out of her room.

He was so unsteady, as if he had forgotten how to walk, but was trying hard to remember. She took a steady hold of his arm and smiled as he looked up gratefully, into her eyes.

"You shouldn't be out of bed..." She gently chided him as she looked down at the blanket wrapped around his waist.

"Neither should you..." He looked down again and tried to take a step, growling in frustration when he tripped again. Kagome sighed and attempted to support him enough so that he could at least keep his dignity, and slightly walk.

They made it to the couch as she gently sat him down, backing unsteadily away.

"Hang on, I'll get you some clothes." She noted as she walked to the old closet that was located in the hallway they were just in, that he was watching her now.

She kept it to herself, but she saw the mournful look in his eyes. Not quite sad, but not quite happy either...

She shook her head and headed back to the living room with some old clothes of her father's.

He was still watching her as she entered the room he now occupied, his golden eyes were centered on her, and it made her blush mildly.

"Here... you can change into these when you're ready." She laid them down next to him on the couch cushion.

"Listen... Kagome." He looked up at her with that look in his eyes that she remembered from only four weeks ago.

"Yes...?" She sat down next to him, not looking at him in order to ignore the uncomfortable feeling that was welling up inside of her stomach.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him look away as well.

"I'm sorry that you got hurt..." In amazement, kagome looked at him wide-eyed,

"Why are you concerned about me...? You're the one who went through the most."

He glanced at her and sighed.

"It's a habit."

There it was again... that prickly feeling that crept up her spine. The blush flooding into her cheeks, the rushing of the heartbeat. She hadn't felt such things since before Inuyasha had dropped her into the well.

And it didn't help, that Inuyasha seemed to be completely oblivious to her blushing, and quietly took her hand in his.

"I didn't growl at YOU, it was myself that I was mad at." Inuyasha had changed...

Kagome concluded that, while she felt the heat from his hand on hers. For all of his subtleties, he was quieter, and well spoken, obviously thinking before he acted. Although kagome couldn't really say anything, she had hardly spent a day with the guy.

But he still had that stubborn look in his eyes, among many other emotions that she recognized, some new, some old. He was still protective of her... That was a good thing.

"Inuyasha... You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to... But..."

He looked at her, almost smiling in contempt.

"That place, that I've been in for the past five hundred years, that's what you want to know about..."

Turning to him, she put her other hand on top of his, looking at him with the pitying, sad look that she had always had. He looked away from her, closing his eyes, and sat back on the couch.

"That place was a prison... I could only sleep, and think. All of the time, I heard..." He looked back at her, wincing when he thought about what he had actually heard.

"...Voices that wouldn't stop talking. It was like that for all of time I was there."

Kagome's heart almost broke when she felt her hand being squeezed tighter and tighter, as the hanyou tried to say what pained him the most.

"Inuyasha." He heard her voice before he felt her touch; he realized that she had leaned against him, sighing at the close contact.

"I'm just glad that you're back, with me." She smiled slightly and closed her eyes.

He was glad that she wasn't forcing him to go into detail. Inuyasha knew that he wasn't ready to tell her of such things, even though she meant the world to him.

He smiled and relaxed against her still form, closing his eyes as well. He would think of those things later...

Maybe when a certain beautiful girl, and her rich calming scent weren't distracting him...

Which he seriously hoped, would never happen again...

Authors note: There's some fluff for ya! This was a very difficult chapter to write, seeing as I had to make Inuyasha a bit out of character in my opinion. But then again, they guy has just been freed from bondage.

In reply to some of your reviews that say that it's just like the anime, or should be animation; It really makes me feel happy when I see compliments like that. Because it tells me, that I understand the Anime (as well as the manga) pretty well. And as far as I know, I understand kagome pretty well.

My friends are very fond of calling me Kagome because of certain little things that I do, that they swear she would do. Although I don't think that I'm her, I do admit that I understand a lot of her feelings.

But I might get Inuyasha wrong once in a while, because I could never understand the guy if I knew him personally, which I don't. (Unluckily)

Okay then... So leave me some input, and I'll keep writing for you guys.


	12. In the rain

Ch.12

Cast in Stone

By Zeldagurl

Authors note: Sorry about the slight delay! My okaa-san came home from work early, and took me out for some pizza. I WAS expecting to use this time for writing, but okaa-san was particularly jolly, so it took a while. Not that I'm complaining, because I love pizza. And I love my Okaa-san, for buying me pizza, and inuyasha DVDs, and stuff... .

Thank you guys! For suffering for my grammar mistakes and misspelled words, I'll definitely try to work on that for you. So, while that's in progress...

Heres the chappie!

Kagome had done everything right, she knew. She was completely ready to leave for her "quiet" meeting with kouga and sesshoumaru. Now, all she had to do was sneak out without Inuyasha noticing.

She winced, it WOULD be hard... With a nose like his, he would be able to smell her leaving, maybe even the nervous feeling in her gut. If that was at all possible...

She pulled on her coat hurriedly, taking light, quick steps, hesitating and listening for her hanyou.

She looked behind her,

"So kagome, where're you goin'?" She yelped and twisted back to see Inuyasha, now blocking the front door.

"Um... I..."

Before she could say anything more, he closed his eyes and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Wherever you go, I go." Kagome could tell that he was set in his decision, but it really wouldn't be good for him to go, considering that the two she was meeting were formerly his enemies. In love and power...

"Inuyasha, I'll only be out for a half an hour, and then I'll be back."

He opened his eyes and practically pouted, which wasn't really unusual, or out of his temperament.

She openly smiled and patted his shoulder.

"It's only with friends, I'll be fine."

She knew that he still didn't like it, but he really didn't have any choice in the matter, apparently.

She walked past the grumbling hanyou and stopped in the doorway, smiling back at him.

"Stay in the house, okay Inuyasha...?" He nodded solemnly, watching her as she went, closing the door gently behind her.

"Kagome! So glad you could make it!" She heard him before she saw him, kouga was still confident, and waved at her from a small table at a café, a good walk away from her house.

Next to him, sat the great lord of the western lands, Sesshoumaru, who blandly watched her approach.

Surprisingly, as soon as she got close enough, both of them took a sniff, one wrinkling his nose in disgust, and the other smiling slightly.

"My brother, you've found him then have you?"

Kagome nodded and sat down, folding her hands in her lap and looking down at the ground. Had she looked up, she would have seen a very quiet kouga... Which WAS unusual.

"I won't ask about him for I haven't the time, but I wish to know if you've had any attacks, or unusual occurrences lately..."

Kagome shook her head slowly at his words, but spoke up after a moment of thought.

"My mother, brother, and shippo haven't come back from dinner yet. They left last night, and I haven't heard from them at all."

Both Kouga and Sesshoumaru looked up at that, neither saying anything to comfort her, because neither of them really knew what to say. To tell the truth, neither of them knew anything about her family life anyway.

"I am sure that we will find them, should we look. Both kouga and I shall be on our guard." Kouga nodded at that, getting up at the same time Sesshoumaru did.

With a simple nod, Sesshoumaru set off walking towards a lavish black limo that was obviously his.

"Kagome... I need to say something before I go." She looked to kouga, hoping that he wasn't going to say what she thought he was going to say.

He looked away, towards the sun, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"I didn't mean to lead you on or anything, but, since dog-breath is back, I want to tell you that I've already mated. With Ayame, you met her back then. I even had a few pups with her." He sighed.

"I only called you that for old times sake, because I thought that without dog-breath, you'd feel very alone."

Kagome smiled.

"I'm glad to know that you made the effort kouga, and I'm also glad that you've settled down with Ayame. It's a good match..." She glanced to the darkening skies, raising her eyebrows at the slight drizzle she was sure would ensue.

Both of them smiled warmly.

"I've got to get going, so tell Inuyasha that he ain't got any competition anymore." Kouga began to back away, waving as he did so.

Kagome did the same, sighing as she looked up at the sky.

It WAS going to rain, and she was wearing a skirt, with a light spring shirt, with no umbrella to keep her from getting wet. As if hearing her thoughts, the rain began pouring from the sky, coming down relentlessly.

She growled to herself for being so unobservant and stupid.

She gripped her small bag and held it over her head as best she could, walking fast under her circumstances. Kagome was so absorbed in her task at hand, that she didn't notice a certain someone sneaking up on her; that is, until she couldn't feel the rain anymore.

She turned around to see a very irritated hanyou towering above her...

"Stupid, you'll get a cold if you walk around like this." He glared down at her, dressed in the clothes that kagome had given him, and with a jacket in his arms that kagome had neglected to bring.

"Inuyasha..." Had he come to bring the jacket to her...? Evidently so, or else he wouldn't have come.

"C'mon." He held the coat over them both and led kagome to a sheltered alley that peeked out into the street.

Kagome shivered slightly, both from the cold, and the closeness between her and Inuyasha.

"I had a heck of a time finding you through this rain, had to sort through dozens of scents before I found yours." He looked down at her, and almost chuckled at the drowned-rat look of her.

"I'm trying to be mad at you, kagome, could you take that look of your face...?" She smirked, looking up at him, and finding some of that old fire that had been so rampant in her soul, back in the feudal era.

Chuckling to himself, he looked to the sky, and then down to the ground again.

"I missed you Inuyasha..." Looking to her in surprise, his mouth opened slightly at her confession. The miko blushed slightly, although still maintaining eye contact with the hanyou.

Getting over his surprise, Inuyasha smiled, and hugged her to him tightly. Closing his eyes and burying his nose in her raven hair to take in the scent that he had missed for 500 years.

"I missed you too kagome."

That was an understatement...

In his mind, Inuyasha remembered the simple pain and anguish that he had endured, and he knew that he had missed her, within an inch of his life.

So he thought to himself, a small sentiment, if only she knew, how much he had truly missed her.

Authors note: oi! Just a bit of side info... I got the idea for the rain scene while walking home from my friends house in the (yup! You guessed it!) rain. Don't ask, these ideas just come to me!

In fact, I might have a chapter where they go to an amusement park (just kidding) because I'm going to six flags- great America tomorrow for fright fest. Anyway, you guys tell me, if I should have a Halloween special chapter for this story. I'm leaving it up to you!

As usual, I have to recommend a few songs, since I've been doing a lot of listening...

On the album from greenday-American idiot.

Wake me up when September ends

Boulevard of broken dreams

From the best of Inuyasha album

Song of truth

Song of love

I loooove these songs, so if you have them, listen to them, okay?

Anyway, read and review.

(P.s. I'm not familiar with the concept of a beta reader, but I would like to have one!)


	13. questions

Chapter 13

Cast in Stone

By Zeldagurl

Disclaimer: I don't own inuyasha. If I did, then I would be too busy animating episodes and stuff to write.

They had left the alley after the rain let up, rushing to get to kagome's house before it started up again.

Kagome shut the door behind her, as Inuyasha stood in the front hall, dripping wet, watching her intently. She felt his gaze upon her as she hung her coat over the heater, and turned her head toward him slightly.

"Something on your mind...?"

He shook his head, folding his arms against his chest.

"Well, take those wet clothes off, and I'll find you some new ones for you." Kagome was trying not to sound perverted, she really was. But her statement sounded somewhat strange on her tongue.

But he didn't look at her strangely, as he might have in the distant past. He just nodded and walked heavily up the stairs, leaving a lingering glance as he went.

Kagome sighed and made her way to the kitchen; ignoring the thumps she heard every once in a while from the upstairs.

Forgetting her task of getting Inuyasha some dry clothes, she grabbed out the nearest pack of ramen that lay forgotten in her cabinet.

He would most likely be hungry... And she knew that he would be looking forward to having his favorite snack after 500 years. She warmed up some water and let the ramen cook, leaning against the counter with her hand to her chin in deep thought.

She was scared for her family, and felt unsure about them, and where they possibly were. Finding Inuyasha had pushed the urgency down, but now that he was safe and sound, she was reminded of their absence.

And besides that, there were still many unanswered questions left in her mind...

Where was the Tetsusaiga, the fated steel cleaving of Inuyasha's father...? Had it disappeared, like the fire-rat haori that Inuyasha had favored over any other outfit since his birth.

What about Sango... And Miroku...?

Didn't they fit into this anywhere? Or had they lived out their "wretched fates", as miroku had once so delicately put it, and died...

"Kagome...?" She looked up to see Inuyasha standing in the door of entrance to the kitchen in a pair of sweatpants and another loose sweatshirt, thrown over his toned torso hap-hazardly.

"Whats wrong...? You're letting the ramen boil over...?" He glanced at the ramen and licked his lips, before diverting his gaze back to kagome.

"Oi! You're shivering idiot! You're still in those wet clothes aren't you!?" He strode forward and rested his clawed hands on her bare upper arms, rubbing them quickly to warm her up.

Kagome hadn't noticed that she had been shivering, in fact, she'd been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed Inuyasha standing there until he spoke. She looked up, meaning to thank him, but as her eyes met his, she found that she couldn't speak.

His eyes, golden, and so very passionate, were locked with hers, and showed no sign of moving.

He towered over her, and it seemed to her, that he was getting closer and closer. Or maybe it was just her...

Inuyasha hadn't had any idea that he was drifting closer and closer to her either, all he knew, was that he was only an inch away from kagome face, her lips...

And Inuyasha wasn't going to take any more time, wasting chances...

Before either of them knew it, their lips touched, as light as a feathers touch. Kagome straining upward to match his height, while he bent his head downward.

He was afraid to move further into the kiss, afraid that she would push him away. But as soon as he felt kagome's small hands make their way up to his face, caressing them lightly as she enjoyed the simple kiss.

They parted slowly, opening their eyes, as if waking from a steamy dream, both a bit nervous and giddy.

Who knew, that her first and second kiss were to be taken by a hanyou that she was particularly partial to.

How ironic indeed...

Authors note: I know! I know! It's really short! But I just haven't been wanting to write lately, and I wanted to get a chappie out to you guys!

Well anyway, please read and review!


	14. bad eggs and an emotional hanyou

Authors note: Okay! Now that I'm buzzed on sugar, I figure that I'll work on chapter 14 for my wonderful reviewers.

I've been a bit upset these past few days because of seeing my dad (he left over two years ago), and having a few problems with my fiancée. You guys have really helped me pull through the tough times with all of your positive reviews! I'm glad to have each and every one of you as reviewers, and I hope that you enjoy my writing. Oh yes, and in reply to a review I got a while ago, Yes, shippo is tall.

I believe he is Inuyasha's height, since he has obviously been through 500 years of growing up! Oh yeah, and in response to koga'sgurl, I decided to make koga do what he did because...

Even though he makes Inuyasha go through a lot of "sits", I do like him as a character, and I respect his personality. Plus, he IS pretty cute ::giggles slightly::

I've been a bit curious about this for a while but, should you review, please tell me what your favorite episode of Inuyasha is...

I'll take note of the most liked episode and try to curve my writing to how that episode goes, so please let me know!

My Favorite episode (s): Return to the place we first met (48)

Go back to your own time, kagome! (19)

The mystery of the new moon and the black haired Inuyasha (14)

(Start)

Inuyasha had gone to sleep a while ago, although he hadn't been that happy about taking up her bed, while she had to sleep on the couch.

"I can sleep on the floor for all I care! You need your bed!" Kagome had to push him in there to actually get him to stay.

It didn't matter much anyway, it wasn't like she was going to get any sleep while her family was missing, and Inuyasha's sword was at large somewhere in her world. Although she was sure Inuyasha was worried about it as well...

Every once in a while, his left hand would drift toward the place that he had once so faithfully kept the Tetsusaiga at his hip. And when he realized that it wasn't there, kagome saw a distraught look on his face, as if he was shocked.

She wasn't that surprised, to be honest...

She herself had gone through the shock, that all that was once familiar was now gone.

The initial feeling had gone, leaving her only with a sense of formidable grief. Although she knew that she would never truly understand Inuyasha's inner workings.

She played absently with the blanket that lay across her legs as she lay on the couch. She had never hesitated to throw herself into Inuyasha's business in the past, and she knew that sometimes it frustrated him deeply.

But she also knew, that her caring nature toward him, had been the very thing that had started to bring down his outer walls.

She cast a wary glance at the hallway that lead to her room, worrying about him, even as he slept.

She wanted to go make sure that he was okay, asleep and well. Although she didn't even want to think of the consequences if he would see her watching him sleep.

"Oh well..." She shrugged to herself and flung the blanket off of her body, swinging her legs so that her feet met the floor accurately.

Just a peek wouldn't hurt, right...?

She sighed as she tiptoed to her room quietly, then again, when had she ever successfully actually snuck up on the hanyou...?

The door gave an annoyed creak as she opened it, making her wince lightly at the drawn out sound, and she gently pushed it open so that she could peek in.

And there he was...

Twisted in the various sheets and blankets that had so neatly been arranged only a half an hour ago, Inuyasha lay haphazardly on the bed with both of his legs sticking off of the side of it. Kagome tried to stifle her giggle...

It was too comical, really...

Her attention didn't linger on the hanyou's funny position for long, for as soon she took in his position, she heard a slight moan.

She peered at his sleeping form, inching closer and closer to see that he was covered in sweat. His large hands were twitching, and he was breathing heavily. Kagome nervously knelt down next to the bed, wondering if she should wake him from whatever dream or nightmare he was experiencing.

His legs, warmly clad in sweatpants, began to kick violently as his moaning became louder, sounding more and more like whimpers every time he opened his mouth.

Now, his hands were grasping onto the bedsheets; almost ripping them with the force he was using to hold on to them.

But kagome had had enough...

With a notion of harsh love in her heart, she reached forward with both of her hands to grasp his face gently.

"Inuyasha, wake up!" She called to him gently, stroking the sides of his sweaty face in tender worry.

Almost at once, his eyes flew open and he focused wildly on kagome,

"You're here!"

She raised her eyebrows,

"Inuyasha... I'll always be here, you know-"

Her supply of air was cut off as she was pulled tightly against the hanyou, who was not sitting up, still breathing long and hard.

He knew that he would never be able to truly tell her why he held her so intimately that night. His dream had been filled with twisted illusions of a cackling witch, and a screaming kagome.

It had been a horrible reminder of the nightmare that he had been forever trapped in. And he knew, that he needed kagome's calming scent right then and there.

"Kagome... I'm sorry about this." His voice was trembling audibly as he held her tighter and buried his nose into her raven hair.

"But I was... afraid."

Kagome smiled simply and reached up to caress his cheek with a pale hand.

"I know Inuyasha, I'm right here, with you." He shivered at her touch.

"Kagome...? Would you mind..."He pulled back and looked pleadingly to her. Kagome nodded and smiled, knowing what he wanted.

Slowly, with her still in his arms, he lay back against the bed; holding her just as tightly as he had when he had pulled her to him. Turning on his side so that she could lay there beside him, and...

So that he could get a good look into her eyes.

Keeping his arms wrapped around her waist, he let her settle in before he let his face dive into her long black hair.

"Good night kagome, Arigato."

Kagome smiled as she watched him close his weary eyes again, feeling his arms keeping her in their iron hold.

And it wasn't long, before the young miko began to feel the need for sleep overtake her.

So with one last glance at the man she loved, kagome closed her eyes, quickly falling asleep beside him, like she had always wanted to be.

(Next day, breakfast)

Eggs sizzled in the pan, and kagome yelped as she realized that the toast was burning.

Inuyasha was busy picking at the ramen that she had set in front of him.

"What's wrong Inuyasha, aren't you hungry...?" She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye while flipping the eggs that were already past burned.

Evidently, he hadn't known that she had seen him, and promptly shoved the burned contents of food into his mouth, incidentally letting a bit of egg hang out of his mouth as he was chewing.

"I saw that." She turned to him with a teasing pout on her face and her hands on her hips. Inuyasha guiltily smiled as best he could at her, making an interesting variety of "mmm" and "yum" sounds.

"Very funny Inuyasha." She smirked and tapped her foot on the ground. He swallowed loudly and got a funny look on his face, he raised a clawed hand and pointed somewhere behind her.

The eggs!

She turned quickly and turned off the stove and took the –by now- charred eggs out of the pan.

Ignoring his chuckles, she sat down and began to pick at her eggs as well. He stopped after a minute or so, letting silence dominate the table once again.

"So Inuyasha..." Kagome swallowed nervously.

"Do you have any idea where the Tetsusaiga might be...?" She didn't want to pry into his problems yet, but she had to find out if the tetsusaiga was still in their reach. It was vital to both of their survival in the past, and would be more than useful now in the future.

"I don't know," he admitted truthfully.

"I had kept it at kaedes before the bitch froze me." Kagome was surprised that Inuyasha was speaking so freely about his experience back then.

"Inuyasha... do you..." He looked up at her with a faint smile on his tanned face, an ironic smile.

"Kagome... All that I can say... is that the witch broke me, and made me wish that I was dead."

She gasped as she heard his words, wishing that they weren't true.

"And for all of that time... the only thing I could remember thinking about, was how I would get back to you."

He looked down again.

"I felt you... when you found the statue, when you were near it, and when you touched it. And I could even sense when the runt was with you."

He meant shippo, of course. He ruefully leaned back against his chair, closing his eyes to remember something, anything...

"Inuyasha...." Kagome got up, abandoning the last of her crispy eggs to take his clawed hand in hers.

"Theres something I want to show you." He allowed her to pull him up from his seat, each trading small glances with the other. Kagome couldn't help but blush from the heat of his hand.

They quietly entered her room, kilala quietly watching from her place on kagome's bed. She got to her knees on the floor as inuyasha sat down next to her Indian style.

He watched her with interest as she reached under her bed for a medium sized wooden box that lay just behind the tucked covers that dragged on the floor.

She pulled it out, carefully removing the lid and setting it down next to her.

Inuyasha didn't react at first; he just stared at the almost sacred objects that lay protected in its hold.

And soon, like a blind man who had just learnt to see, he reached forward, rough fingers tracing over the beads and poison mask lightly. He picked up the spinning top, cradling it like a parent would to a toy belonging to their offspring.

Kagome saw foreign tears, falling from his amber eyes, and quickly scooted closer to him, smoothing back his white hair in a gesture of tender comfort.

He looked to her, and she smiled.

"Just remember Inuyasha, you are never alone."

(end)

Authors note: Whoo!!!! Glad I got that done! I've slaved over this chapter for three days, so I hope you guys like it!

And yes, kagomes egg cooking is based off of my own experiences. Both she and I suck at making eggs, as well as cooking. (If you've watched the first movie, which was awesome, in my opinion!)

Oh and yes, Starfire77, I loooove teen titans almost as much as I luuurve Inuyasha. So I might be coming out with a new fan fiction soon, if only I could get a darn idea!

Okay then, don't forget about telling me your favorite episodes! Because I want to know!

Read and review.

Quote of the week-

"To Kikyo... My life is meaningless."-kagome


	15. Inuyasha's jealousy

Chapter 15

Cast in stone

By zeldagurl

Authors note: Okay, well, I'm writing this at school for you guys, and I hope that you all like this chapter. Please keep reviewing and making comments on this story.

Kagome was pretty sure that Inuyasha had been asleep when she had left. She had a rough time sneaking past her room, trying not to make a sound.

She heard Inuyasha's soft snoring.

Kagome knew that he wouldn't like the fact that she was going out alone, but she had to look around for any clue as to where her family was. Her mother, brother and her adopted son had been missing for a week now, and she was frantic with worry; ignoring sleep and school for the sake of trying to wrack her brain for reasons.

Why…? Why weren't they home yet? They were supposed to be home, with her and Inuyasha, marveling at the fact that the one she loved was alive.

Shippo was supposed to be able to see his otou-san. He was supposed to be happy, because almost all of his family was united as one again.

They were all supposed to be together; that's how it should have been…

Kagome opened the door to the outside quietly and closed it behind her, taking a breath of the fresh air, as she always did.

The goshinbouku tree waved at her serenely, with its old branches that had weathered time.

"Kagome… I'm surprised to see you outside. I was just going to knock." She turned her head and saw the swilling figure of kouga, walking the last few steps to the shrine.

She smiled and walked forward a little to meet him.

"You haven't found out anything more about my family, have you kouga?" She asked with a glimmer of worry in her eyes.

He shook his head and smiled,

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm sure that the combined efforts of dog breath and myself will be enough to find 'em." He looked toward the house and began to walk toward the closed door that kagome had just stepped out of.

"Kouga… just… be careful, okay? Inuyasha doesn't know about you and ayame getting together and stuff. You know how he is." She gave him a quizzical look and hurried to catch up with his large stride.

"Have no worries, sweet kagome." He grinned at her and opened the door.

"That would include the sweet talk as well…" She muttered and cringed as she imagined Inuyasha's reaction.

As if summoned by her thoughts, both kouga and kagome heard a loud crash, followed by a…

"What the…!" It was muffled by the distance between them, and barely heard, but it ushered in a lot more loud banging and thumps, that got louder with each second.

Suddenly, Inuyasha burst through the door, wearing only a towel around his waist.

Kagome blushed in embarrassment, so he HAD figured out how to work the shower…

It didn't help that he was sopping wet, dripping all over the wood floors. Not to mention the look of his muscles flexing, enhancing the wet look.

'It's getting a little hot in here…' kagome yanked on her collar quickly, and hid her eyes.

"What is this kagome?" He accused in an incriminating voice that was unusually quiet, probably with suppressed anger, kagome guessed.

"It's not what you think dog-breath, just calm down and I'll explain…" kouga closed his eyes and held up his hands in a peace gesture, showing unusual calmness under immediate pressure.

"There's nothing to explain! All I want to know is why you're here, with kagome! Even when I've obviously claimed her!" The last part of his rant was spoken quietly and delicately, so that kagome could barely hear him, although it was still spoken with anger.

She wasn't sure if 'claimed' was the right terminology for what he had done…

Sure, he had kissed her; and it was great that he had. But kissing was something that initiated affection, not marriage or mating… At least not yet…

Not that she wouldn't mind if he wanted to do something like that…

"Ack!"

Kagome smacked her head to try and get rid of the dirty thoughts that lurked there at the moment.

"bad mind, bad mind!" She looked up in the midst of her smacking, and realized that both demons were staring at her awkwardly.

"Don't ask…" She waved her hands in front of her, laughing nervously.

Kouga shook his head and then looked back at Inuyasha,

"Anyway, you shouldn't assume things… I've mated with ayame, so I'm no danger to your feelings for kagome."

Inuyasha blushed and looked down, avoiding kagome's eyes for an obvious reason.

"In fact, I'll bring the cubs here sometime; we didn't have the second one until10 years ago."

Kagome knew that Inuyasha was probably relieved in his own way, but he sure wasn't showing it. As far as kagome could see anyway…

"Well then, what did you come here for?" Inuyasha had calmed his tone a tiny bit, although his glare remained focused on the confident wolf demon.

"Kagome met with us two days ago, concerning her family. Sesshoumaru and I have picked up a hint of where they might be, so I came to tell her about it. I also wanted to make sure she was okay being alone with you dog-breath…"

The flustered miko lowered her eyes to the ground, feeling Inuyasha's steely stare on her back.

"What was it that you found kouga?" She said quietly, twiddling her thumbs and ignoring Inuyasha.

"Well… I found a slip of paper yesterday when I was sniffing around this place, it was behind that huge tree outside that I found it." Kouga took a breath and let it out in a heavy sigh.

"I originally went down there because I sensed a very strong emotional aura. What was awkward about it, was that the aura was completely composed of love, and sadness… A strange mix…"

Kagome blushed to herself at that…

"But, on this slip of paper, it had a strange rhyme… It read:

Alone in the world,

the caretaker shall be,

The hell of sadness,

she shall see.

One by one,

all of loves eyes chopped away

Until blindness conquers

in the light of day."

Kouga reached in his pocket and searched for the paper.

"Here…"

He shoved it at her, and glared at Inuyasha.

"Well, Ayame told me to be home quickly, so I'll be leavin' you for now. Take good care of yourself, and I'll see you soon."

And like that, kouga was gone. Now it left Inuyasha to deal with…

"Kagome… I wanna talk to you."

The miko looked down and began walking up the stairs to her room, ignoring his command.

"Oh no you don't!" He grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back to face him. Preceding, very conveniently, to corner her and back her into the wall.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because there was nothing to tell!" She looked up into his golden eyes that were extremely close to her face, not to mention his lips…

'Quit it kagome!' She thought, 'now is not the time to think about that!'

She glared at him, with some of the old fire that she had possessed long ago, when their fights would remain as stupid and meaningless as this one.

"You need to stop being so possessive! It's not like I ever liked kouga!" She shouted.

"I have no proof of that! All the time that you're ever around him, you let him crawl all over you!" His grip tightened around her arm as his anger escalated.

"Even if I did; why shouldn't I let him, huh! It's not like you really care, other than being jealous!"

"Damn it! It's because we're together, stupid! I care about you more than that wimpy wolf ever would, and you can't see that! Can you!"

Kagome froze while readying herself to yell again, taking in the depth of what Inuyasha had just told her.

"What? Inuyasha…"

His face relaxed, as he realized what he had just shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Kagome… I…"

His throat froze up, so that he was unable to even take what he had just said back. Kagome just stared, her brown eyes searching his golden ones, trying to read the emotion in them.

"Oh Inuyasha…"

His hand loosened, as she stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his middle, and burying her head in his chest.

"I'm so glad to hear it."

His voice finally began working again, as he whispered her name and allowed himself to bury his nose into her beautiful black hair.

So the wolf wasn't that bad…

But he still got in between him and kagome, even if he was supposedly mated to ayame. He knew that kouga wasn't a threat anymore, but he still had a horrible sinking feeling, that he knew was only his instinct to protect kagome, acting up.

But could anyone blame him?

Inuyasha had always been forced to be ready to give his life for her at any time. He hadn't really minded, back in the feudal era…

After all, the alternative without her was bleak and empty, without meaning for the hanyou. And he never wanted his life to be without meaning again… He had enough of that from the time before she came and freed him from that damn sacred tree.

"Hey… Inuyasha…" He felt her speak into his chest, not bothering to lift her head out of the warmth, he bet.

"Mm?"

"Do you think that maybe tonight we can go out…?" She looked up at him and then blushed.

"I mean to look for my family and stuff" She smiled agreeably.

"Sure… Why not."

-

A.N. The chase is on! I finally updated, after writing from school!'

Ugh! What a pain! I'll start writing chapter 16 as soon as I can!

Enjoy!


	16. Old people with new faces

Authors note: Hey guys! I'm glad I got so many nice reviews about chapter 15! I've had to type this at school while my teachers weren't looking, so it's been hard to do. This chapter has a lot of blood sweat and tears put into it! (No blood or tears actually…) So I hope you guys all appreciate it!

Well, here's 16!

(Begin)

It was night-time when Inuyasha stepped out in the cold night air, looking outside while kagome was pulling on her shoes.

He didn't like it… The night was too quiet, and the air smelled like it was going to rain. He had sensed this earlier, and voiced his concerns to kagome, but she had responded with a worried look toward the door.

Worrying her was the last thing that the hanyou wanted to do, he was only worried about her… Although, when kagome had told him about shippo, kilala, souta and kagome's mom being missing, he was almost as upset as she was.

Although he didn't show it…

"Inuyasha! I'll be out in a few minutes, the phone rang!" He grunted loudly to show that he had heard, even though he still had no idea what a 'phone' was.

His glance stole over to the place beyond the sacred tree, where he had been sealed and kept in torment for 500 years.

Walking rather stiffly in the 'jeans' kagome had given him, he carefully made his way down the grassy slope, careful not to misplace anything in this sacred place, where kagome had found him again.

He tugged roughly at his shirt, not liking the uncomfortable feeling of closeness that constantly annoyed him. The jeans and shoes weren't much better….

The only shoes she had been able to find that fit his rather large feet, were work boots, which were heavy, and didn't allow him to move as quickly as he usually did.

There was a patch of dirt that inuyasha knew was familiar, it had been where he was frozen. His golden orbs traced over the patch of grass that still had a little of kagome's blood on it.

He wished that it wasn't hers, but actually his. He wished that she wouldn't have had to bleed to save him from the hell he had lived.

Inuyasha remembered the look of shock, as she clutched her side in pain, when he had first been able to look at her. He remembered it, and he hated seeing it in his dreams.

It reminded him of a look that only one other woman had given him, a look that had haunted him for over 51 years, and beyond. Kikyo was sure to be dead; her body would have deteriorated from times grasp on it.

But he still felt sorry that she had to die because of him…

Kagome was a second chance to make things right, and to do things right… He was sure that he would do anything to keep himself from screwing up. After all, she was the second person to ever give him a chance…

Being half-demon and all…

"Inuyasha?" Her voice jerked him out of his stupor, as he looked up toward her house.

He moved quickly up the hill, as not to scare her by being missing too.

"You ready to go?" He grunted and looked at her through silver bangs.

"Mm hmm" She looked down and searched through her bag, making sure she had the keys to the house.

She walked forward and smiled, taking his arm and leading him toward the stairs from the shrine.

Kagome shivered, Inuyasha had been right… This night was way too creepy to be remotely safe… But she didn't care; her family, demons included, were somewhere out there, and she would find them if it killed her. Though she was sure that Inuyasha would have a thing or two to say about that…

The both of them descended down the many steps leading down to the street below the higurashi shrine.

"So kagome, if we don't find your family tonight, can we make a quick stop at a ramen stand or something?" Inuyasha asked carefully, watching her eyes to judge her reaction.

"I though you just ate… I made up some ramen, and I turned away for a minute, and then when I turned back, it was gone." She looked suspiciously at Inuyasha, as he gave her an innocent look that she somehow didn't buy.

"Well see…" She looked ahead and ignored his pleading look, like a parent would their young child.

The hanyou gave up on begging, looking ahead to scan the streets for any sign of anything out of the ordinary.

"So where do we start?"

"Well, I was thinking that we would look where ever you and I have been in the past" Kagome shrugged against him and shivered from the cold, turning her eyes on him in humility.

He tugged her against him and dropped her hand, only to wrap his arm around her waist to give her some of his warmth.

"I guess… but we can't stay out too long, I don't want you getting sick." He looked away cautiously to avoid her gaze, but tightened his hold on her. She looked away into the black oblivion that was the night.

"Why… So I can cook ramen for you when you want me to?" She voiced her dejected thought, and then cringed because of how bitter it sounded.

Inuyasha looked at her, and then grinned to himself, looking away again.

"Well… that's not the biggest reason, but I guess you could say that." He playfully smirked in an effort to get her mind off of the thoughts that kept kagome sad; he wasn't that good at it, so he didn't expect her to react.

Kagome bit her lip, and smiled a little at the hanyou, aware of his efforts to cheer her up. Actually, she was touched that he was even trying to better her feelings.

She shook her head; she couldn't spend her time like this…. She had to concentrate on her family.

Inuyasha sniffed the air cautiously, searching for some sort of clue as to where the stupid witch was.

Suddenly, he did smell something; something that he knew couldn't be good…

"Kagome…" His voice suddenly low, and laced with danger, he looked at her and then looked at a building that was off to the side.

"Get somewhere safe, this isn't going to be a picnic."

Kagome smiled a little, despite her situation, it felt just like old times. She was half expecting markup to step in front of her and sago, and reinforce inuyasha's orders.

She quickly retreated to the side, and clasped her hands anxiously.

But there was a question that still lingered in her mind, where were they? Sango and miroku had to be somewhere around. If they had found shippo and kilala, then anything was possible.

Maybe they had reincarnations; it was always possible to think. After all, kagome had to guess that they hadn't ended life in a way that was too happy or cheerful. If she knew her life by now, they were killed by the witch in cold blood. Leaving shippo and kilala to raise their many children. And so… possibly, their line could still survive…

Although she didn't know how the groping thing would work out, if sango and miroku were somehow related. If they even existed anymore…

Inuyasha stood in the middle of the deserted street, waiting for whatever was coming. Heavy footsteps gradually got loud enough for both inuyasha and kagome to hear.

"Inuyasha! Be careful!" The priestess called to him, as he gave her a glance and a wary smile.

Suddenly, a dark figure appeared behind some a construction site, a growling sound could be heard with the footsteps. It stepped into the light of the streetlights, and growled again.

'What!' Kagome thought, 'Is that a bear demon, or are my eyes weirding out?'

It was a bear demon, and it was currently barreling toward inuyasha, who stared and readied his claws. Suddenly… Kagome wished that the tetsusaiga was still strapped on his waist.

"Demon! I shall slay you with my sutras!"

"Roku! Stop! You don't know what you're doing!"

Kagome gasped, not believing her ears… what… How could… It wasn't…

"Sanga, stay out of this!"

"No way, I'm not letting you risk your life for no good reason!"

Kagome turned, her eyes spying two figures; one in a simple priests robe, and the other in jeans and a t-shirt. But their faces were completely… Kagome couldn't find the word… Familiar?

The monk eyed her, a confused look on his face.

"My dear, you must clear out of here, a demon is on the loose! Go somewhere and await me to find you and get your number." Yep it was miroku alright.

"Roku!" All of the sudden, the young man who resembled miroku was smacked hard on the head, and promptly fell on the ground with a thud.

"I'm really sorry about him!" The girl allegedly named sanga bowed slightly and gave kagome an apologetic smile.

"He's my boyfriend, and I guess he just can't seem to stop hitting on girls." She sighed tiredly, as kagome looked back to see inuyasha injure the bear demon across the shoulder blade.

She turned back to the girl who was staring intently at her with a curious expression gracing her face.

"Do I… Do I know you, from somewhere or something? I feel like I've met you before." The girl furrowed her eyebrows.

"You and your companion, are you in league with demons? Any normal human would have run away from a bear demon long ago."

Kagome smiled at her friends reincarnation, "No… me and inuyasha are fighting demons to find some people that were kidnapped."

"Oh…" She nodded and then looked toward the ensuing battle.

The bear demon fell with a heavy thud, it eyes finally closing as the throes of death finally took it. Inuyasha simply wiped hid bloody hands on the jeans that kagome had bought him. She glared at him with an angry look, as he simply innocently looked away.

"Who are they…?" He eyed sanga and the unconscious roku, his eyes widening in recognition and looking into mine for just a few seconds to see kagomes reaction.

Sanga bent down and smacked the monk lightly on the cheek to wake him up, as he came to, he looked up at sanga and smiled lightly.

"Ah… the beautiful face of my sexy sanga."

The girl looked up at kagome and shrugged.

"My name is sanga, and he's roku. He's a priest, and I'm a slayer of sorts." She stood up and closed her eyes, folding her arms across her chest as roku stood up.

"We're hunting a demon witch, who killed many people back 400 years ago, she has recently resurfaced."

Kagome nodded, "She kidnapped my family just a few days ago."

"Well… we are currently traveling to find her, we have no place to stay, so that's why we saw the demon and came running behind you guys."

Kagome looked at inuyasha, thinking of an idea that she knew he would hate. He looked at her and furrowed his eyebrows, shaking his head and mouthing 'no'.

"Listen…" Kagome started to say, as both sanga and roku looked at her intently.

"No way kagome!"

"Why are you being so difficult? There's no problem with it!"

"There is! Because I have a problem with it!"

Kagome growled, surprising both the hanyou and the other two reincarnations.

"You guys are following us home, okay!" She said huffily to sanga and roku.

Without a word, kagome walked stuffily back the way her and inuyasha had come. All of the others followed, Inuyasha catching up with her with an angry look on his face.

"Kagome." He hissed.

"What?" She hissed back, although any real venom was lost in the tired look in her eyes. Seeing that look, inuyasha decided to calm his approach down. He felt like complete trash because HE had made her feel that way, he was guessing.

"Listen… I'm sorry about frustrating you… But I have a good reason for disagreeing with you about them…" She looked at him again, an eyebrow raised and a slight smile on her face. It sort of erased the tired look, and inuyasha liked the feeling that the smile gave.

"You really are changed inuyasha, you know that? You're more sensitive now… To a point."

Inuyasha made a face, why was she suddenly happy though… He had once heard something about it from miroku, something called a "mood swing". Seemed a little strange though, that only girls got them…

"Yeah… well… If we let them come stay with us… They'll always be bugging us and stuff. We'll never get time to be by ourselves."

"Implying something, Inuyasha?"

"No, I just… I want to spend time with you, more often… than I have been… anyway." He nervously pulled on his collar and looked away from her.

But she smiled at him again, taking his arm and leaning against it, with a contented sigh.

"If that was all… than you should have said so..."

"Next time I will… hopefully."

(End)

Authors note: I know, I know it's been a while! But, at least I got a chapter done. And guess what!

I have another song recommendation for you guys!

I recommend the song "missing" by evanescence, and another song called "breathe no more" by the same band. If you don't have the cd, you can go ahead and go to their website to listen to it. And, yes! I brought back sango and miroku! I'll delve into their story more next chapter, so look for it, kay?

Please, tell me what you think, and what you would like to see in terms of kagome and inuyasha and their relationship. I also would like a few idea's for stories that you guys want written out. If you give me the idea, you will be mentioned in the story as the original creator. So, please let me know!

Read and review!


	17. A new lead

Cast in stone

By: Zeldagurl

It was that time in the morning, when the sun was just peeking over the edge of the earth, shining it's warmth on whomever was there to see it. That was how inuyasha thought of it anyway…

He had often watched the sunrises in his time, most of the time for the sake of biding time before kagome would come back. He had always seen them, and loved the feeling of being the first one to feel the suns light. It was kind of like being there when kagome climbed over the edge of the well…

He greeted her for many reasons, one being, to see that beautiful smile that she always had when she looked at him. The one that made his heart stop beating…

But he hated the night, for two reasons… Simply because it was usually during the night that most deception and lies happened.

When he was just a pup, a few days after he had been run out of the village, blamed for his own mother's death; demons attacked him while he slept under a large tree. He had been extremely hungry, dehydrated, and a little more than depressed. He fell asleep by his tears, not bothering to wipe them away.

The demons managed to injure his arm, but he ran quick enough to hide in an old cave that hid his scent within those of its older occupants.

After that night, he had hated everything about the dark… The only thing that was good about it was the way that it easily hid him from anything after him.

He learned to fight…

He learned to hunt and to be stealthy, stealing food from villages without killing anyone in the process.

But he still felt worthless…

He hated night for a second reason too…

Kikyo was the dark, as much as kagome was the light. And, after pushing kagome back into the well and being freezed by that witch, he realized how different she was.

She used to smile, and laugh slightly, with a bit of good humor. There used to be not an ounce of wickedness in her heart…

But things changed, and she became a body only bent on revenge. Not love, not anymore… No… He didn't hate kikyo, he just pitied her, and had earlier mistook it for love.

Maybe if they had survived just a little longer… Maybe if Naraku hadn't shown up, there might have been love.

Inuyasha sighed and stood up from his sitting position on the roof of kagomes house, not hearing a sound from the other three occupants of the house. Kilala meowed next to him, rubbing against his leg with a concerned look in her kitten eyes.

"It's okay kilala, just thinking…" He smiled a little bit at the fire cat, and began to scale his way back down to kagome's window.

Her scent hit him like a wall of bricks, almost knocking him out with its sheer force. He breathed it in, and smiled goofily, sighing like a fool who was in love. Quietly, he dropped in, letting his eyes wander down to her.

He bent down and kissed her cheek lightly, as though he was a little afraid and hesitant. The girl mumbled a little and stirred, turning more to face him, and stretch, opening her eyes like a new kitten would. She immediately saw the spun gold of Inuyasha's eyes concentrating on her own, with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Thought I'd ask of you want to see the sunrise… what's left of it anyway… I've been waiting for it…"

She smiled a little and nodded, looping her arms around his neck, allowing him to pick her up like a husband would carry his bride. She was a tiny bit groggy, and a little clueless as to why Inuyasha wanted her to see the sunrise.

He scaled the house like it was nothing, and soon sat down with her in his lap.

"Where's kilala?" She yawned and stretched.

"Probably went to sleep with sanga, somebody's gotta guard her from Roku…"

Kagome giggled to herself and thought of the two…

None of them had gotten much sleep, since the house resounded with slaps every two minutes. Inuyasha had finally gotten so annoyed that he crept downstairs from his room, and scare the crap out of Roku. He succeeded, and the slapping stopped, so that everyone could get some much needed sleep.

"I wish that we could see sango, miroku, kaede, jinenji… everyone… I wish there was a way…"

She said more to herself than to him, which was why she was surprised she got an answer.

"There is… If we found the jewel shards again."

"…" Kagome didn't speak, because she knew that the possibility of doing that was as hopeless as finding her family.

"The witch took them from me, so I suppose they'd be with her." He continued quietly, holding kagome at the thought of the witch.

She closed her eyes, and leaned her head on his chest, laying a hand on his in comfort.

He smiled at her in thanks.

She smiled back, and turned to look at the sunlight that was coming from the rising the sunrise.

"It's so beautiful…"

"I know…" He didn't even look… She could feel his eyes on her like hot fire, just like his hands. His one hand intertwined with hers, and the other laying underneath kagomes hand.

Looking back at him, her eyes locked with his, and before she knew it, his lips were only inches away from hers. So kagome decided to take some initiative, and move in for the kill, so to speak.

She gently touched his lips with hers, and allowed her eyes to flutter closed, as he bent down, cradling her head in his clawed hands with care.

The feeling was incredible, like thousands of compliments and confessions from him, all bundled into one simple kiss. He gently moved his lips against hers, combing his fingers through her long black hair

He simply felt like he was flying, without ever touching the ground and jumping up again.

They broke apart, breathing heavily, completely draped around each other.

Kagome looked up at him, her eyes taking in his swollen, red lips. She guessed that she looked the same way, but she really didn't give it a second thought.

She just smiled breathlessly at him, loving that he was smiling back at her.

She was so close to saying it; to saying the words that were rooted in her heart, ever since that day under the sacred tree. But she restrained herself, and looked down, blushing from the closeness to the one she loved

So instead, she said it to herself, if only in her mind… She said,

'I love you Inuyasha… I love you and only you…Forever."

(Switch scenes)

By the time Inuyasha and kagome came down to the kitchen, Roku was already complaining about his empty stomach and smiling charmingly at sanga.

Who only looked at him with a crabby look on her face.

"Okay, Okay, I'll make some food!" Kagome hastily walked toward the stove, not wanting any more conflict than what happened last night.

Inuyasha quietly seated himself at the table and looked down at his hands, for lack of anything else to look at.

"So…" He heard Roku clear his throat and promptly felt an elbow jammed in his ribs.

"Where were you and kagome when we woke up, hmm?"

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Inuyasha, who just looked at the perverted reincarnation of his friend, and blushed madly.

Before Roku could say anything else, Sanga promptly hit him on the head with a frying pan that was conveniently on the table.

After Roku was unconscious under the table, Sanga turned to kagome, who was busy making ramen.

"So… Last night. You said you were looking for a demonic witch, who sealed Inuyasha away, and made off with your parents, right?"

Kagome nodded, and looked to the reincarnated demon slayer,

"Did you say you had a brother sanga?"

"Yes.." Sanga smiled a little and sighed.

"His name is Haku (spirited away! Squeeee!)"

"Ohh…"

Kagome nodded and looked back at the ramen, which was currently burning.

"Oops!" She hurriedly tried to correct the problem, and turn the stove off.

"Did you burn the food again?" She heard Inuyasha ask, though she knew he was just trying to be completely annoying.

"Of course not…" She laughed nervously and stirred the ramen to try to get it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

He knew that she had burned it, and she knew that he was only teasing. Inuyasha had more of a mischievous side to him, now that the world wasn't watching his every move.

An uncomfortable silence followed the attempt at conversation that each of them made. Kagome just didn't know what she could really say.

She wished that they would retain their old consciousness, and memories… But then she didn't… She bet that in the beginning Inuyasha had wished for the very same thing on her. She didn't want it to be like that with them… She wouldn't repeat the hate and the bad feelings.

She served the slightly burned ramen to all of them, seating herself quietly.

"KAGOME! INUYASHA!" Both of the said people looked in the direction of the voice that kagome recognized as kouga.

The door flew open, and there stood the wolf-demon, holding a brief case, and panting heavily with an excited look in his eyes. Kagome peered behind him and saw two other figures trying to catch up, with similar brief cases in their hands.

"Ginta! Hakkaku! They're still chasing after you?" Kagome gave kouga a blank look.

"Meh… It's just because I said that I'd buy em' dinner, if they won a bet… Too bad, that they won…" He shrugged and stared blankly at kagome for a minute, which started to make Inuyasha more than a little nervous.

"Kouga…" The half-demon stood up and let a bit of a growl crawl into his voice as he spoke.

"Was there a reason that you came here…?" He even surprised himself at the way he was handling himself around his old arch-rival.

"Oh yeah…" Kouga stood up straight as ginta and hakkaku arrived and gawked at kagome.

"Hi boys…" She smiled lightly at them and waved.

"…"

Kouga smacked Hakkaku in the back of the head and sighed as though he were exasperated.

"Kagome… I have another lead… to where your family might be"

He looked at Roku and Sanga, who were currently completely confused.

"And it's got to do with these two reincarnations."

(end chapter)

A.n. I know! I know! Cliffie, how could I! But then again, I did update, so you guys should be mulling over this partially fluffy chapter for a day or two. So please review! I did write this on my bro's computer, so It was extremely hard to do. And everyone knows I'd do anything for my darling reviwers.

(the authoress goes outside and dances around in the rain for inspiration, then finds a stick and beats up her writers block randomly)

AHH… that felt good! Slightly insane… But still good...

So read and review!


	18. Losing you again

He couldn't believe he was following orders from kouga; especially when, in his opinion, the wolf had a nasty habit of being wrong.

Kirara carried Roku and Sanga on her back, running along side of kouga, with the hanyou trailing behind. He fought a feeling a familiarity that he knew kagome fought too, when either of them glanced at the fire cat and the reincarnations of their friends.

He knew she missed them terribly, it was kind of like mourning for the dead, the memories and sadness would go away, only to come back again and hit you in the back of the head. Leaving you emotionally down for the count.

On the brighter side; Inuyasha was glad that they had once again waited for the cover of night. Although he was new to this modern world; he still knew that their story was best kept a secret.

Kouga had said that he had studied the scent of the paper, investigating small leads after he got out of work each day. Just recently though, he had followed a particularly strong scent that resembled that of the note the witch had left; and stumbled upon an old building in the forests away from the city.

The wolf demon had become wise in his old age, and had decided not to charge into the building and attack like he once was prone to do.

From then, he ran to kagomes house, after encountering his two old friends, who apparently were still chasing him, because of a bet, it seemed. Inuyasha didn't know why they would waste their time; it wasn't like the wolf would actually go through with it. His memory seemed to get foggy when asked to recall promises, if Inuyasha remembered rightly from the time with ayame. Kouga had yet to say anything about why they needed Sanga and Roku.

The half-demon scented the air quickly before looking back to see if kagome was still securely on his back. She was silent, and smiled at him, before looking toward the others and furrowing her eyebrows in determination.

He smiled despite himself and looked forward again, making sure to navigate the trees that they were now passing.

It was just then that he sensed a presence that resembled a youkai's, but seemed a little different. Whatever it was, it was definitely dangerous and moving toward them fast. He stopped running, grunting at kagome and giving her a look that said to get back.

The others evidently felt the demonic aura as well, and circled around to join him and kagome.

"Inuyasha, I… I sense… It's the jewel!" Kagome gasped and looked at him, knowing how very dangerous this thing could be.

"Feh! Like it could do anything to me!" He crouched in a fighting position, not liking how the stupid jeans restricted his body. Sniffing the air, he glared at kouga as the wolf-demon stood beside him with his signature cocky look on his face.

Sanga stood next to kagome, shouldering her large boomerang and casting a wary look at Roku. Who only gave her a cheesy grin and waved his sutra's in his hands without conviction or worry.

The demon slayer just rolled her eyes and looked at kagome… Although it really wasn't the correct time to think of such things; she couldn't help but feel a certain friendship for the girl she barely knew. Roku had told her about his same thoughts last night for both kagome and Inuyasha.

After he had gotten over the initial shock of a very crabby, sleep-deprived Inuyasha scaring the crap out of him; he had spoken of a certain kinship. Somehow he knew, like sanga, that the bond Inuyasha and kagome shared went beyond just love… He could feel that it consisted of time itself, among other things.

All of her life… She had felt… almost empty, with only her brother to keep her company. The reason that she had met Roku was because of this feeling, he felt the same too. Like there was something missing from the picture of their lives. She felt like she didn't know herself at all; and had something else to find before she knew who she really was. And she felt that maybe, if she and roku stayed with these familiar people, they would find what they were looking for.

She knew that there was another missing; the group of five that they had couldn't have been complete. Sometimes, during the times she had been sleeping at night; she had dreams that consisted of Inuyasha, kagome, and people that she could only assume to be her and Roku. There was also a young fox, along with Kirara, who now stood next to her, baring her fangs at the coming evil.

The incredible sound of trees snapping like twigs jerked her out of her thoughts, as she readied herself.

All of the sudden, the demonic aura became stronger, and there emerged from the forest, a dragon like demon that stopped before Inuyasha and glared down at him, ignoring kouga.

"My mistress insisted that I greet you and challenge you." Its voice was raspy, and carried a bored tone with it. Kagome was sure that she had heard it before from somewhere…

"In order to gain the sacred jewel, and find your family, you must win against me in a fight to the death. Do you accept?"

Inuyasha growled and nodded his head, meeting the dragons gaze straight on without a sign of fear or second thoughts. Immediately, a light began shining in front of the dragon, a light that contained a sword.

"Your Tetsusaiga, For the sake of honor." Inuyasha's eyes widened as he stepped forward, and grasped the glistening sword that had been lost for 500 years.

Kagome was glad that the sword was back, but she didn't understand why. Why would a witch that was so agonizingly wicked, be so nice as to give back Inuyasha's sword? It seemed a little too familiar to be confused about what the enemy did; it made her feel like Naraku was still alive and well.

Inuyasha unsheathed the tetsusaiga, seeing it transform into the infamous fang that it once was in times before. His gaze drifted from his sword to the dragon, a look of hatred on his face.

"Come at me, if you wanna die that is…" His voice was deadly smooth and calm with a silent taunt hidden in his words.

The fight started quickly, as the dragon came after Inuyasha, everyone else but kouga got out of the way because of the ferocity of the sudden fight. The dragon moved like a snake, slithering out of the way as Inuyasha dove in for his neck with his sword, making the hanyou hit a tree instead. He cursed and jumped up again, this time targeting the dragon's tail and hitting it, causing a small dent that quickly healed up. Kouga attacked the dragons leg, causing it to fall to the ground and screech in pain.

But why did kouga's blows hurt, and Inuyasha's did not? It also seemed strange that the wolf demon had not uttered a word since they had left kagome's house. Inuyasha attacked its neck again, this time hitting it and almost severing it, if he had not been hit out of the way by the dragon's tail.

He crashed into a tree, cracking it in half with the force of his fall. He got up again and rushed forward, uttering an intense battle call that made kagome glad that he was on her side.

But as kouga attacked the dragon's neck at the cut, the head fell off and the body crashed to the ground.

"Thanks a lot kouga! I was gonna do that!" Inuyasha yelled. But kouga didn't answer; he simply turned toward inuyasha with an expectant look on his face. Kagome glanced at Inuyasha and gasped.

The sword that he held was glowing blue, and slowly, inuyasha was fading.

"Inuyasha! The sword! Let go of it!" She screamed as she rushed towards him, forgetting her bow on the ground. If what she thought was happening… No, it couldn't be…

"Huh?" He looked at her strangely, and opened his arms to catch her as she came.

But he didn't catch her…

She walked right through him…

He frantically looked down at himself, seeing his body fading from beneath him; he looked at kagome and reached for her.

"No! KAGOME!" He was being imprisoned again, this was how it ended the first time, and this was how the damned witch had sealed him away. How had this happened! Why!

He didn't want to leave her, he didn't want to lose her again! He would go mad, he knew!

Kagome had gotten up and frantically tried to grab onto his outstretched hand in vain. Just as he was almost completely gone, his eyes found hers, and he mouthed to her.

"I'll find you, kagome, I lo-" He was gone, just as kagome threw herself at the spot where he once stood.

"INUYASHA!" She banged her fists against the ground, crying for him to come back.

"I need you! Please don't leave me!" She buried her face into the ground and cried her tears into it.

Sanga rushed forward and put her arms around the weeping woman, feeling compassion that was strongly like that of a sister. Roku looked for kouga, seeing that the wolf demon was suddenly gone; he furrowed his eyebrows and saw a glittering jewel lying where the dragon was dead.

"Lady Kagome. Is this not the jewel?"

"Not now Roku." Sango gave him a small smile before trying again to soothe kagome.

"She must take it. It is so badly defiled; I dare not touch a thing of such evil." He insisted seriously, his violet orbs penetrating her brown ones. She nodded gravely and roused kagome softly.

"Kagome-Chan, c'mon, we have to get out of here."

Kagome looked up, with her tears flooding her face; her gaze drifted to the jewel of four souls. She snuffled and reached for it, instantly purifying it in her capable hands.

"I know what I have to do." She said quietly to herself, her voice broken by her tears.

"Kagome-Chan?" Sanga asked, unsure what she should say.

"I have to go back…"

Authors note: Hello! (Dodges random bricks thrown at her head)

Okay, so I kicked the plot in the ass, and we're finally coming to the final chapters of cast in stone. In order to explain what just happened; the tetsusaiga was real, but it had a spell on it that after the dragon was defeated, Inuyasha would be put back in bondage. That's sort of what the second prophecy says in chapter 16 or 15. As for kouga, you'll see in the next chapter.

I have the end almost completely mapped out, and I have my brother's computer, so I might be able to finish this story within the month. Those who have stayed with me during this story, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I beg you to stay for the final stretch.

I also have a one-shot that I might be adding a chapter to if enough people want it. I'll be adding other one-shots too, so look up my account!

Thanks so much! Read and review!

zeldagurl


	19. Going back

Inuyasha

Cast in stone

By Zeldagurl

Disclaimer: I don't own inuyasha, just a few DVD's and a lot of mangas.

Authors note: This is going to be a shorter chapter, and kind of sad and negative, but it WILL get better! Read on!

(Start)

When Inuyasha awoke, he felt cold and wet. That was the first sensation that he felt. His memory was fuzzy, and he couldn't remember why he was here…

"Inuyasha!" In his mind, he heard kagome screaming, and he whipped around, looking for a trace of the woman he loved.

Then… It came back to him…

Seeing that look on her face, and hearing her scream; not being able to catch her when she reached for him.

"So Inuyasha, how does it feel to be away from her again?" He looked in the direction of the voice, taking a cautious step toward it.

"Who the hell are you!"

"You aren't the only one who was captured." The figure stood and walked toward Inuyasha, He recognized it as the wolf demon, kouga. He looked depressed, and bruised, like a skeleton.

"That copy of me betrayed you, he's the one that got you here with your sword."

Kouga coughed slightly and looked up again,

"It was all a trick… The witch decided to use Naraku's strategies, and well… here we are."

Inuyasha looked around his surroundings and furrowed his eyebrows, it was much like his first prison, he could now hear not only kagome, but sango and miroku, and even kagomes family. He hoped that nothing had happened to them…

They were human… with the exception of shippou, and they probably couldn't handle whatever the witch had to dish out.

He just hoped that kagome would find him… and kouga, he admitted begrudgingly, before it was too late for both of them.

(Change scene)

The miko eyed the well, clutching the jewel tightly in her fist. Sanga and Roku had said that they would mind the house while she was gone, and she had told kirara to stay in order to protect them.

Now it was only her, only she could protect herself, not Inuyasha, not anyone.

Taking a deep breath she climbed over the edge of the well, and closed her eyes as she jumped down. The miko felt the almost familiar blue light wash over her entire body; it flushed a relief through her body that she had missed while she was gone.

All at once, she felt the ground beneath her, and the blue light disappeared to form the insides of a well that she knew was 500 years younger than before.

She climbed up slowly. Almost afraid of what she might see… What if the village was burned to the ground, what if everyone was dead? What if she made the wrong choice…?

But nothing seemed remotely wrong, as she pulled herself over the top; it was sunny, like it usually was. She could hear the laughter of children, and the sound of farm animals from where village seemed to be.

But then she remembered what she had learned in the future, it was almost impossible for things to be right here.

She started off at a brisk run, making her way toward the village. The huts appeared, and she saw people, but she also saw two people on straw mats, like those used to prepare the dead for burial.

"Hey!" She waved, and ran a little faster; most of the people turned to look at her, and their grimaces turned to sad smiles.

"KAGOME!" She was nearly knocked over when a small ball of fluff attacked her face and clung onto her for dear life.

"Shippou!" She smiled jovially as she hugged him tightly, almost as tightly as the little fox held her. They both pulled back a little bit and looked at each other, while shippou opened his mouth,

"Kagome, where've you been? Everything has gone wrong, and it's only me and kirara."

"What do you mean shippou, where are sango and miroku?" She felt that creeping feeling of dread come upon her, as she followed where shippou's little hand pointed.

It was them… On the straw mats, bloody and pale. Her heart wrenched in her chest, as she felt the tears begin to run down her face.

"Lady Priestess…" She turned to look at the village headman, who now approached her with a paper in his hand.

"We found them a few days ago; Lord Miroku was still alive at the time, but lady sango…" He paused.

"He said he didn't think he would live much longer, so he recited some sort of prophecy to us, as soon as it was written down, the noble monk died."

Kagome nodded to him and took the paper; she didn't read it, because of an astounding site. Five little children stood in front of Sango and Miroku, their heads bowed, clumsily wiping tears from their eyes.

They must have been the children that sango had mentioned… And now, they were without their parents… orphaned… Like Inuyasha had been.

She turned to the headman,

"Please, make sure that those children are cared for, treat them like you did sango and Miroku. That is all I ask of you…"

He nodded, and kagome looked down at the paper, mindful of shippou, who had now made his way to rest on her shoulder. She read it out loud,

"As life bows to death

Death demands

And you will require

These reincarnated hands

Open the gate swiftly

Leaving them to defend

For you will need

All the strength they have to lend"

It was another clue, and kagome knew what it meant. Sanga and Roku would definently serve a purpose, and the sooner they were done with this whole ordeal, the sooner her family would he free, and Inuyasha would be alright…

"Shippou, theres something I have to do in my world… I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to come back here again, but you will see me again, I promise."

She gave her adopted son a soft smile, and held him in her arms tightly.

"You have to be strong, for both me and Inuyasha. We'll be a family again…" She sat him down, and gave one last lingering look to sango and Miroku's children.

"Take care of them shippou… I love you." She smiled again and eyed the fox boy, who was trying his best not to cry.

She took off as fast as she could, running toward the well, clutching the jewel, as well as the piece of paper.

Now she could save everyone, and finally rid the world of that evil witch, now, she could finally be happy… again.

Authors note: I'm sorry, but Sango and miroku sort of had to die. Or else Sanga and Roku could never exist. There will definently be a lot more fluff in the next chapter!

Thanks for all of the suggestions, as you know, I'll try to use them if I can, but if they don't fit into the plot of the story then I really can't. I value everyone's reviews, and I just want to thank everyone.

I've been a nasty authoress at times, but you guys have stuck it through! Thanks so much!

So read and review!

Zeldagurl


	20. Before the big day

Authors note:Ah! The long awaited chapter twenty! I'm so sorry about taking so long, but my brother took off work on the wrong day and was home; so I really couldn't use his computer to write. Blame him!

(dodges flower pots filled with dirt that are randomly being thrown at her head)

All I can say, is that, this chapter will show the reunion of kagome and her two VERY old friends. Don't ask questions about it, you'll see soon enough. This chappie will be a bit happier than the others. As will the Epilogue of "Cast in stone". I'm not saying anything else!

By the way; to explain to Queen Tatooine, yes you are right! The authoress made a very big mistake in dealing with time! Credit goes to her as well as any others who caught this mistake. (laughs nervously)

(Last chapter)

Kagome goes back to the feudal era with the newly found jewel while Inuyasha discovers that kouga was also captured by the witch in order to trick them. Kagome receives a prophecy from the village headman and rushes back after a tearful goodbye with shippou. Because she knows what she has to do.

(begin)

As soon as the miko came back from the feudal era; she went right to work in the room that held the higurashi shrine records, much to sanga and Roku's confusion. She had brushed by them at the well, leaving them with only a hurried hello. But when she looked at them, she seemed totally distracted, looking past them as if she was trying to decide something.

It had been at least an hour since then, and Sanga, Roku, and Kirara had been stuck with the annoying job of waiting friends, as kagome madly searched through the shrine records. Sanga felt tense… she didn't know why; she guessed that it was just in accordance of what everyone else was feeling. It was grim in the higurashi house, Sanga had to guess that it was once filled with the sounds of a happy family.

But now it was only filled with four awkward creatures, who simply didn't know what to say to each other. Sanga couldn't take the tension; it was too quiet; Roku kept sneaking looks at her that made her even more nervous.

"I'm going to check on kagome." She stood up abruptly, making up her mind to find out what was really going on with the girl she barely knew.

"Be careful…" Roku looked at her, his eyes seeming to bore holes in the back of her skull.

"She may be delicate from her time in the well, we don't know what happened there, and I doubt that she would appreciate us poking around in her own affairs."

Sanga glared at him.

"I know that, but someone has to talk to her about it, and I don't think you're very interested in talking. You're much more of a touchy-feely kind of man in my opinion."

He squirmed under her glare and laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head sorely. She shook her head and then walked to the door, opening it slightly and then looking back at him.

"There's just… I have a feeling that I'm supposed to do this, it's something I can't explain." She looked down and then sighed, moving out of the kitchen completely. Sanga made her way quietly to the building where the shrine records were kept, she peered inside; kagome had all kinds of boxes surrounding her. Sanga entered quickly, side-stepping to avoid the piles of boxes that seemed to be set in no intelligible order. Kagome looked up when she heard the door close behind Sanga.

"Hi…" She smiled slightly before sighing and putting a hand to her brow. Sanga smiled back before seating herself carefully on a solid looking shelf.

"Is there something wrong?" Kagome asked, folding her hands in her lap and peering at the reincarnation through her bangs.

"I was just wondering… What you saw back there." She said quietly, looking over the various documents that were also strewn about the area that kagome was sitting in.

"Well… I'm not sure if we told you the story; but, beyond the well, we had two very treasured friends. When I went back there… I found out that they were… dead." Kagome lowered her head and busied herself, gathering a few papers.

"What were their names…?" Sanga prodded carefully.

"Sango and Miroku…" Kagome said slowly, avoiding Sanga's eyes.

The other girl didn't answer, but felt something inside of her stir, awaken, whatever it could be called. But as soon as she heard the name that was so similar to her own, she began to see things while her eyes remained closed.

She couldn't call them memories, because she was sure that it hadn't happened in her life time. But it seemed as though they were familiar. Kagome looked at her curiously…

"Who was sango…?" The reincarnation asked quietly, looking sadly at kagome.

"She was my best friend… Just like my sister. She was a talented demon slayer with a strong heart and mind. She was in love with Miroku, but he always hit on her, and so they never got anywhere until after we defeated Naraku. She had a brother, Kohaku, who had to die because of Naraku and his evil tricks."

Kagome shivered slightly because of the horrible memories of that evil demon; All of the pain, the misery, the suffering, all because of that malicious creature.

Sanga saw many things when she closed her eyes; a mix of several things really… A little boy, who didn't look much older than the tender age of eleven. He had an innocent look about him, and his brown eyes matched his brownish black hair that was tied back. When she saw this boy, she felt a deep sadness in her heart that no words could describe.

She felt helpless, as she watched the boy's eyes lose their warmth, and she watched as he killed and hurt innocent people.

But sanga couldn't understand it; she had never had true family to call her own… Her little brother had died long ago.

She then saw a man who resembled Roku, but he was different, with his robes that labeled him as a monk. He had soft violet eyes, and a reassuring smile, it just made her feel like all of their troubles suddenly didn't matter, because he was there. A faint warmth filled her, and held her soul tightly.

'Miroku… Kohaku… Kagome… Inuyasha…" A voice inside of her called their names, she wasn't sure how she knew the names, she just felt them in her heart.

'Shippo… Father…'

It was through that voice that somehow; Sanga and Sango melded into one. The memories filled her heart, and made her know herself, made her remember who she once was.

"Ka-Kagome!" She breathed and fell to her knees, holding herself as she breathed hard to catch her breath.

"Sanga? Sanga! What is it?" She scrambled over to the woman, frantic; she grabbed her shoulders and held them.

"Sanga! What is it?"

Sanga looked up at her, a small smile on her face, as she looked at her friend and felt the tears coming to her eyes.

"My name isn't Sanga, kagome… you should know that, It's Sango." Kagome's eyes widened as she sat back on her knees, her hand to her mouth in disbelief. She was silent for a moment,

"Sango…?" She questioned hesitantly.

The other woman nodded quickly, a smile of pure, giddy happiness upon her face. Kagome squealed and embraced her friend tightly, feeling her own tears wetting her cheeks. But there was a simple difference from all of the tears she had once shed not so long ago; now, she was happy.

A lasting happiness that she felt down to her very bones.

"Sango! I missed you so much, you and Miroku! It's just been so hard lately, with all of the people dying, and going missing." Kagome gushed, pulling back so that she could look the demon slayer in the eyes.

"I know kagome… I know…" Sango smiled gently, giving kagome a squeeze of reassurance.

"Miroku still hasn't awakened yet… But I'm sure that with you here, we'll be able to do it." Kagome let go of her friend and rose to stand, taking sango by the hand and leading her out the door of the record building.

"Yeah, in no time he'll be back to his lecherous way again." Sango sighed happily, trying her best to keep up with kagome, whose speed was now rivaling a train.

It wasn't to be denied that she was still Sanga; the two parts of the soul had blended together, working so that she retained both Sanga and her memories. She figured that she was lucky that way… But she knew that her reunion with kagome wasn't just to see her again; she had to tell kagome where the witch was hiding out, both her and Miroku knew. Now all they had to do was to awaken her husband, and they would be able to save Inuyasha and kagome's family. It felt kind of strange to say that they were rescuing Inuyasha; considering that he always did the rescuing. But it was all right; as long as everyone was going to be safe.

Kagome pushed open the door to her kitchen to see Roku, standing and looking out the window.

"Roku…" Sango said breathlessly, coming out from behind kagome and looking him over.

"No need to call me that. My beautiful Sango." He turned and smiled at her, as sango began to feel that familiar warmth fill her.

"You've already remembered… Miroku?" Kagome questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.

"It was a joint deal… Sanga remembered, Roku remembered. That's how it works for us; luckily." Miroku strode toward kagome and hugged her, and would have groped her too, had sango not caught his ear and pulled. He stepped back and winced in pain as sango pulled harder.

"Sorry, Lady Kagome… Old habits die hard, you know."

"Yeah, I know…" Kagome smiled happily, deciding to ignore his near-grope.

The shock began to wear off, as the familiar feeling of comfort began to envelope the three friends; Sango already had Kirara in her arms and was holding her tightly. They all sat at the kitchen table, silently thinking, until Miroku cleared his throat.

"Kagome, precisely before Sango and I died, we found the prophecy that I believe you have now seen, correct?" He looked at her expectantly. She nodded and resumed a serious expression.

"Sango and I also found her hideout, and I'm quite sure that we can find it again, once we get our bearings here."

Sango nodded quietly, looking cautiously at her two companions. Kagome took a deep breath and pushed her bangs out of her eyes.

"Well then, if you guys think you can find it, then I guess it would be smart to set out tomorrow morning. That is, if you guys think that you're ready to take the witch on again…"

Both of them WERE ready, they wanted revenge for everything, all though they weren't as hard pressed as Inuyasha might have been. But that was to be expected…

All of them went to be bed that night; preparing themselves, praying, writing, training. Whatever they were sure that they would need to do, they did. They were prepared for death, for life, for whatever they knew that they would have to be prepared for.

Kagome found herself thinking back, wondering how in the world things had ended up like this. It was weird enough that she had been thrown into an alternate dimension, where she fell in love with a half demon, made new friends, and learned that Ramen was the most useful food ever created. Okay, maybe Inuyasha had forced that on her…

She wondered how she had become so different in so little time. She believed and knew things that others could only imagine were true. She had become an expert at demons, and knew how defend herself well, against almost anything.

When she was fifteen, she was just a shallow little girl, thinking about trivial things that didn't matter to her anymore. And now, she found herself, going to battle for her family, and for her future.

"Inuyasha…" She whispered quietly, while snuggled underneath her covers, she really missed him.

Sometimes she would just stop and think; about him, about the children she wanted with him, about the life she wanted him to know. She didn't know if they were even going to get married or anything, but so far, it looked like it. So she wasn't loosing hope in the power of love just yet.

She would need that power the next day, she decided as she drifted off to sleep, letting the wind from her open window caress her face. She would need Inuyasha… that was for sure…

Nothing more than that…

(end)

Authors note: Wow! Okay, well this chapter is finally finished, so you guys should be appeased for a day or two. I fixed the mistakes, such as calling sanga by the wrong name two times. Sorry! I recommend a song as an apology!

Four Seasons, the ending song to movie 3. I have fallen deeply in love with it, and stuff!

Of course, it goes right up there on my list with; Song of Truth, Every heart, come and deep forest along with unending dream… sigh

We're coming to the final few chapters, and I hope you guys enjoy what you've been waiting for since day one. I've grown as an author, and as a woman because of you guys, and I'm always thankful. So please read and review, and I'll keep writing for all of you!

You know what to do!


	21. The end

Cast in stone

Chapter

Zeldagurl

Authors note: Okay then! Well, with the release of movie three in the U.S. and the fact that most of you are ready to kill me by now; I've gone to great lengths to get a computer and type on it.

I'm also proud to introduce a series of stories that I've been planning on writing for a long time now. And luckily, while you read this there will be at least one of those stories posted on my profile because I'm atoning for my sins (sighs)

I'll give you some info on the stories at the end of the chapter, but, anyway, onto the serious stuff.

This might actually be the last chapter to cast in stone, unless I include an epilogue as another chapter. I'd do it at the end of this chapter, but there's way too much info in this chapter to do that, don't want to over load your brains or anything.

I just want to thank everyone who ever reviewed for this story, whether their criticism was good or bad. Thanks for putting up with my moody angst writing, and my bad grammar and plot holes. I've grown as a writer while writing this story, and I hope that I was able to make each and everyone of you sit and think of the characters we all know and love.

And I hope that if you haven't learned anything else, you at least know that Kagome and Inuyasha can get through anything!

Disclaimer: Yeah, at the last chapter I actually remember the stupid disclaimer! I don't own Inuyasha, okay? Rumiko Takahashi does, and she'll have a LOT of rabid fan girls trying to kill her if she doesn't continue Inuyasha, which is why I'm kind of happy about not owning Inuyasha.

(Begin)

The sun rose on a cold sky, the golden light failing to brighten the day at all. Kagome had tried to sleep the night before, but she couldn't stop her mind from running wild whenever she closed her eyes. She couldn't help but think of Inuyasha, dream about seeing his boyish grin, and feeling his lips against hers once again.

She hoped that he was safe, wherever he was, and she hoped that he would wait for her coming.

As the sun rose, she sat up, holding her knees to her chest, and looking at the wind-bruised sky outside her bedroom window. Her door opened slowly and revealed a grim Sango, standing with three bullet proof vests in her hands.

"I picked these up last night, figured we would need them, since I don't have my armor anymore, and Miroku doesn't have the wind tunnel." She smiled at kagome warmly and went over to her dresser, opening her drawers and looking for some clothes for kagome.

"It'll be best if she doesn't know we have them on, so wear loose clothes." She advised while picking out a school shirt of kagome's that was a little bigger than the others; she also grabbed her trademark green skirt.

"The monk and I will be downstairs, come down when you're ready, Kay?" She patted kagome's shoulder softly and then left the room.

She dressed slowly, looking at herself in the mirror each time she got a chance to… She would look in her own eyes and tell herself that everything was going to be okay. Today, she would see her family, and she would be able to sleep knowing that everyone was alright.

How wonderful would that feel? She thought as she made her way towards the kitchen and came upon a site that was kind of nice to see, to tell the truth.

Miroku held Sango in his arms, and he was kissing her gently, running his hands through her hair and down her back; which was kind of surprising, seeing as her butt was completely unguarded.

They broke apart, and looked into each others eyes with a passion that kagome knew Inuyasha had once had for her. Sango looked over in surprise, gasping and blushing as she quietly stepped away from Miroku. Kagome just smiled knowingly and laughed to herself while Miroku held his hand behind his head and laughed himself.

Soon enough, things settled down enough for kagome to be able to grab something to eat quickly so that they could leave the house.

Kirara transformed for them, and as Sango and Miroku climbed on, kagome shivered from the cold of the morning and held herself, peering at the sacred tree before she climbed on. She smiled and nodded her head toward it before climbing on;

_Thank you guardian spirit, Thank you for everything._

And with that, they went on their way, Kirara moving just as she once had back in feudal Japan. Kagome felt a thrill move through her veins as she closed her eyes and remembered while she still could.

(change scene)

Inuyasha sat slumped over, sleeping quietly while he could. He awoke as he heard Kouga shift in his sleep and glanced over at the wolf to make sure nothing had happened to him. Inuyasha had held up well in this prison, they really weren't fed too much; he wondered if the witch was trying to drive them insane. It didn't really matter anyway…

He passed his hours thinking about kagome, wondering how she was; he refused to let the witch win, he refused to think desperate thoughts like before. It wasn't too hard to resist, since everything about kagome calmed him.

He swore, at least to himself, that he would make her his wife. He hadn't been sure about his love for her before she had found him again. But now he knew for sure that he had never loved anyone else the way he loved her. It was almost crazy, when he tried to understand why or how.

He just simply loved her; there was no fancy explanation to be thought of.

All of the sudden, a large boom rocked the occupants of the prison; it woke Kouga, and sent Inuyasha sprawling… Sputtering in surprise, Inuyasha got to his feet, looking around for some sight of anything that could have caused the disturbance.

"What the hell?" He sniffed, and a scent flooded his senses, making his heart skip a beat once he recognized who it was.

"K-kagome…?" His voice waned as his mind reeled in shock.

Another explosion rocked the prison, as a few rocks began to loosen themselves from a side of the room. Inuyasha also heard the screeching noise of the witch, outraged, as he ran toward the loosened rocks and tried to move them. He had to protect kagome!

Kouga got up on shaky legs, using the rock wall to support himself as he moved slowly toward Inuyasha.

"Hey…" He called weakly,

"Is that kagome's scent I smell, and your friends?" He managed to speak before his voice failed him once again.

"Yeah, something' tells me that this is when we kill the witch for good. But you need to stay away from the fighting; you're too weak right now." He tried to move a large rock, and kouga smiled slightly.

"Concerned about me mutt?" He gripped the wall as his legs began to fail him.

Inuyasha turned and looked at him, grinning in a carefree way that the wolf demon had never seen on the half dog demon.

"Not in the least."

As soon as he said this, another explosion threw both of them off balance, falling backwards as rocks began to fall from the breaking wall.

"Inuyasha!" He heard faintly through the crumbling wall; and as he heard her voice, a sudden strength filled his veins and gave him inspiration to find her again. He got to his feet and charged at the wall, pitting all of his strength against it.

And the wall came crashing down, revealing to him the battle that was now being waged for him.

"Kagome! Where are you!" He didn't see her and began to panic. Right now the witch was gathering power for a curse that she was aiming toward some rocks. Inuyasha peered at the rocks and sniffed, realizing that it was kagome she was aiming at. He rushed to her, and she looked up at him, a beautiful look in her eyes as he bent to scoop her up.

"Inuyasha…" She said simply, just staring into his eyes as he swept her away from harm.

"I'm here now kagome…" He said reassuringly, cupping her cheek as he landed, willing her lips to meet his for just a moment.

"You wretches!" The witch screeched as she threw the curse at them. Inuyasha dodged and looked up to see Kirara and the two reincarnations coming towards them.

"How did Sanga and Roku get in here?" He looked down in confusion at kagome, who simply smiled and shook her head.

"No Inuyasha, It's Sango and Miroku, they found their memories…" As realization hit him, he looked up to see if it really was true and Miroku waved down with a carefree look on his face, as he reached with his other hand for Sango's behind. She smacked him and laughed as he nursed his newest black eye.

Inuyasha smiled as Kirara came up next to him and nuzzled his arm, purring loudly.

"Now all we need is the brat and we'll be back to normal again." He muttered as he patted Kirara's head.

"I'm so sorry to break up this charming reunion." The witch drawled,

"But you are all here for one purpose and one purpose only... To die!" She threw a large energy ball at them, Kirara immediately lifted off the ground and Inuyasha jumped, although he wasn't quite fast enough to come out completely unscathed.

As soon as he landed, he fell to his knees and groaned in pain, holding onto kagome tightly, she tried not to wince as his grip tightened.

"Inuyasha… I think that I need to hit her with my sacred arrow." She said quietly, as the witch cackled and began to gather more energy.

"What…?" He looked up at her, and she continued,

"She's completely composed of dark demonic aura, I should be able to purify it if I can get a good shot at her. Can you give me the chance?" She asked seriously, looking into his golden orbs.

"I can, but only if I get a kiss afterward." He smirked as he got to his feet again; she giggled and smacked his chest playfully as he jumped.

"You never change…" She muttered, gathering her bow and slinging an arrow to it. He chuckled and positioned himself so that he was facing the witch.

"Shoot arrows at me all day long and you won't escape with your lives." She jeered at them. Kagome aimed for her, not saying anything as a comeback.

She shot the arrow, and… She missed.

"Kagome! This isn't the greatest time to be a klutz!" Inuyasha yelled harshly.

"Well I'm sorry if she keeps moving!" She yelled back, her famous temper sparking, Inuyasha looked back at her and gave her an annoyed look as they landed and didn't see the wave of energy coming from behind them. Kagome looked up just as it was almost upon them.

"Inuyasha! Watch out" She yelped as Inuyasha looked in front of him and quickly turned to protect her from the blast. He screamed in pain as it hit him in the back, the immense burning sensation affecting his entire body.

"That curse will kill him beyond any doubt; it is my most powerful hex. I kills almost the very instant it hits you!" The witch cackled/

"Damn you!" Miroku threw some sacred sutras at the witch as Kirara swooped down near the ancient witch. She screamed as the holy light burned her, but soon got over it.

The light subsided, and the smoke cleared, and kagome found herself underneath Inuyasha's limp body.

"I-Inuyasha..? Inuyasha!" She shook him and received no answer from the hanyou.

"No!" She became desperate, shaking him and trying not to cry.

"Please don't die…" She whispered… Miroku and Sango exchanged blows with the cursed being, currently distracting the witch from Kagome and Inuyasha. He was bleeding on the side of his head, and his breath was shallow. Kagome couldn't get a reaction from him at all.

"Please…" She sobbed and sat up, pulling his head into her arms and hugging it as tightly as she dared.

"I haven't gone through all of this, just to lose you, have I?"

Why had she yelled at him…? Why hadn't she told him that she loved him? Why had all of this ever happened to him? She was so stupid, getting mad at him, when she should have been appreciating the time she had with him.

"You always protect me, and you never think about yourself, why do you do that! I'm not worth it, I'm not!" She sobbed.

"But you are…" A weak voice whispered into her ear. She gasped as a shiver ran up her spine. His clawed hand grasped her's tightly.

"I don't mind being hurt; as long as you're all right." He paused.

"I didn't get to say this before, so I'm saying it now… Kagome…" He pulled back enough to look her in the eye.

"I love you." He smiled and caressed her cheek softly. She tried to speak, but her voice just wouldn't work, all she could do was sit there gulping like a fish.

She smiled and covered his hand with hers,

"I-Inuyasha… I love you too…" Her voice trembling with joy.

He grinned at her and then cast a look at the evil witch who had condemned him to an eternal prison and had driven him mad for 500 years.

"I know you can do it kagome… This is your victory to have." She was completely surprised that he didn't want to just jump up and get revenge, especially because of what the witch had done to him. Inuyasha had changed; he had actually gotten smarter… She thought.

But it didn't matter now; all that mattered was the arrow she slung to her bow, the arrow she let fly. Her soul guided it to its target as it cleansed the evil around it, purifying the evil witch and sending her soul to hell where it belonged.

The only thing left of the witch was the blood ridden throne, and her piercing scream of pain. It was over…

Authors note: Heh heh, I hope you guys don't kill me for ending it right there, but I am really, really tired and I need sleep. Do not worry, there will be a very long epilogue for you guys to enjoy, within the next week. Probably over the weekend actually…

Well, I'm happy because Audioslave is coming to Chicago, and I get to go to their concert! As you all know, Audioslave is an awesome group with awesome music! I actually wrote the last part of this chapter to "Heavens Dead" From their new Cd. My brother doesn't like the new Cd, but then again he's a crab ass sometimes.

Okay, Here are those shameless advertisements for some of my new stories…

Waiting-Kagome is still a little kid and Inuyasha has waited 500 years for her to grow up. Inuyasha finds out about a school bully who picks on kagome and pays him a little visit. This WILL be a two chapter story with really awesome fluff in the second chapter, so wait for it!

The Gardener-AU, Kagome's mother has died and she doesn't want to live her rotten uncle, so she goes to live at her grandpa's old house in the forest. It's been abandoned for 7 years so it's in bad shape, but the gardens around it are perfectly well kept. Why? And who is this man that keeps sneaking into the house and watching her at night? Multiple chapter story

The best dance I'll never have-Kagome has no date for a dance and really wants to go because she has no other chance to see her friends, but she doesn't want to be sitting on the sidelines. So Inuyasha volunteers…

Okay, that's pretty much it, I'd like to get into writing some Miroku Sango Stories, but I really have no ideas for a story, if anyone has any suggestions, than please let me know in a review. I'm also open to any fan art you guys might have done for this fanfic, I don't mind posting the links here. You'll also receive an honorable mention in one of my other stories, so go ahead and draw as much as you want.

Thanks so much!

Toodles!

Favorite quote of the week

If sadness is like a cold, than depression is like a cancer.

-Taylor Greer


	22. Epilogue

Authors note: Hey! Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I updated, or have even gotten ON a computer. And the first thing I really want to say is; I'm SO sorry for all but forsaking Cast in stone. I know the only reason that I'm still breathing is because you guys don't know where I live. Hehehe!

Since this is the last chapter, or the epilogue, I'd like to say my thank you's quickly.

I'd first like to thank all of my reviewers and faithful fans, who have stuck with me during all of this time. I couldn't have done it without any of you, and I am extremely thankful.

I'd also like to thank a friend (I hope) who was once my student in writing, and my very best friend, who inspired me to write many things that I couldn't have otherwise. She helped kick my butt in gear, and, while we are still not really friends, I feel comfortable with the understanding we've developed. Thank you.

To my family, who through their ups and downs, helped me to be inspired enough to put my soul into what I love to do.

There are countless others who've helped me, but I think you guys have waited long enough to read this, so I'll write the rest of the notes at the end.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and related characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, not me.

(Begin)

It had been three years, three short years since they had defeated the witch. Inuyasha couldn't help but smile as he slipped out of the back door quietly, cringing as the door screeched on its hinges.

He padded smoothly towards old Goshinboku, the tree that watched his house and family in the very same way that it had always done. It swayed above him in time with the wind, smiling down on him like an old friend greets another. He nodded his head in reply, slipping his hands into his pockets.

His life was easily described as… quieter, than it had once been. He lived quietly with his wife and child, with no longings toward the perilous fights of his past. He found himself doing this often; sneaking out to drown himself in his retrospective thoughts. He had so much to look back on…

Miroku and Sango had, of course, gotten married, and had a few kids of their own. Sango was always pregnant, as would be expected with a guy like Miroku. Inuyasha himself often teased kagome that she would be looking as tired and frazzled as Sango, if he had anything to say about it. She would blush and elbow him in the chest, which made Inuyasha wonder to himself, why his wife was so damn cute.

Shippou was old enough to be able to hold up a steady job, but lived not too far away from the shrine. He still visited as much as he could, and was called 'Uncle Po' by little Ayeko, their two year old daughter. Shippou didn't mind the name as much as he minded Inuyasha's jeering. The two would often get into fist fights on the Higurashi floor. But everyone knew that it was no more malicious in either's intention, so kagome didn't bother breaking them up.

Kagome's mother and Souta had moved to a small apartment near the shrine, even though kagome had insisted that they stay. Mrs. Higurashi had left the shrine on good terms, saying that she wanted to give her daughters family room to grow.

That was not to say that they weren't over all of the time, because they were.

Sesshoumaru was fine… and while they weren't the most affectionate brothers around, Inuyasha was still grateful for his presence; even if he himself would never admit it.

The wimpy wolf had healed pretty well from his imprisonment with the witch, and now lived happily as ever with Ayame and their kids. He was a family friend now at kagome's insistence, and although Inuyasha may not have liked it, he had to deal with it for the sake of keeping the peace with his darling (controlling) wife.

Kirara lived with Miroku and Sango, living quietly as the family pet. She barely ever transformed now, and acted like a second mother to Sango and Miroku's kids. Herding them around like the gaggle that the family truly was.

After the witch had died, kagome had truly mourned for her grandfather. And she still blamed herself for his death. She was listless before Ayeko was born, but it seemed that her first child had lifted her veil of grief somewhat. It also helped that Ayeko was the most energetic child Inuyasha had ever known. So both Kagome and Inuyasha had no strength at the end of the day to think of hard things like grief and loss.

He shifted his stance, turning to look at the bedroom window that he knew was his little girls. She was probably still sleeping; he smiled at the thought of seeing her beautiful smile, that smile that reminded him of kagome.

When she had been born, Inuyasha felt a new feeling that overwhelmed him, much like his love for kagome had, once upon a time. He saw her sweet little face, and held her in his arms for the first time; and Inuyasha felt his heart burst with love and joy, at having a child. It was so unlike him, but Inuyasha didn't care. He looked at Kagome, who tiredly smiled back at him and took his free hand; and Inuyasha laughed.

"Hey…" He turned at the sound of his wife's voice, and smiled, taking in her sleepy yawn and disheveled figure. She walked to him and laid a gentle hand on his bare arm.

"What have I told you about walking out here without a shirt on, huh?" She scolded playfully, resting her head on his shoulder.

"So I forgot to put it on, sue me." He grinned down at her.

"The visitors to the shrine just might." She poked his muscled shoulder in good humor.

He wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head,

"My thoughtful woman…" He said dryly.

She rolled her eyes and focused her attention on the tree before the both of them.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Everything, I guess…" Inuyasha sighed.

This early in the morning was a good time for him to think, no Ayeko to play with, and no alluring wife waiting for him in the bedroom when the time was right. He chuckled to himself and kagome sighed, knowing just what he was thinking. Deciding not to call him on his thoughts, she skipped ahead to the serious stuff. That she talked about from time to time with him.

"We've been through so much. I guess it's easy to just sit and think about it all."

"Yeah…" He answered, burying his nose in her hair and inhaling her heavenly scent. He was glad that she understood; she squeezed his hand and reached up to kiss his cheek.

She stood in silence with him, smiling because he was so close. Even after being together for three years, kagome still had yet to get over her fear of losing him from those lonely few months. Inuyasha didn't mind… He had no intention of losing her again either, and felt just as strongly as she.

Inuyasha, in these last moments of peace, before the day began; thought about his beautiful wife. Her vision burned into his memories of their wedding day, of every day they had been together.

He thought of how truly lucky he was to be with her, and how much he loved her. How much he thanked Kami above for her, and for their child. To say it shortly, he was glad, in every way possible

And like all husbands, he was quickly learning that saying 'I love you' was a helluva lot easier than showing it. But he thought he was doing a good job, and enjoyed the challenge of loving a complicated woman and a crazy, hyper little girl.

He looked down and noticed kagome shivering from the cold and smiled softly,

"C'mon kagome, lets get inside, huh?"

She nodded gratefully and turned with him to go inside. As they crossed over the threshold of the back door, he tossed a last glance at the patch of bushes that hid a small clearing that he knew very well.

Down a small hill and behind the tree's surrounding fences, a part of the ground lay grassless, evidence of something standing there for hundred of years, Five hundred years to exact.

He chuckled to himself as kagome got to work on breakfast and he sat himself down at the table to wait. He should know… shouldn't he, he thought dryly.

After all…

That was where he had been cast in stone…

(end)

Authors note: Whooooooooo! Done! You guys have no reason to kill me anymore! (Unless you want to exact revenge) It's finally done!

(Calms down) well, now that I've got that out of my system…

I guess it's time to let you know about my future plans in writing…

I'm collaborating with a friend of mine for a remake of Beauty and the Beast (Inuyasha Style). I've already halfway written the first chapter, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long. It won't use the exact script of the movie, I promise! It will be VERY different from your classic Beauty and the Beast fics.

I have a ton of one-shot idea's just waiting to be written and published and I'm also starting a multiple chapter fic, which involves World War 2 and Inukag fluff. Let me know if you guys are interested!

Also, please let me know if you are interested in continuing 'The Gardener'. I didn't get very good feed back, but I'm willing to continue if you are.

Again… thanks so much for waiting on me, and for reading when any sane person would have abandoned reading this. I owe you guys the world! Thank you!

I've also gotten some fan art suggestions, so if any of you wish to submit any, I would be proud to list the links on my profile. I complexly encourage it!

Anyway, thanks again! See ya in the next fic! (Blows a kiss good bye, as a brick hits her in the head)

Tootles!


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